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4 A. V TJ 



THE 

GENERAL HISTORY 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 



HER BIRTH 

TO 

HER FINAL TRIUMPHANT STATE IN HEAVEN: 

CHIEFLY DEDUCED FROM 

THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN, 

THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST. 

BY SIG. PASTORINI. 



Blessed is he that readeth, and heareth the words of this prophecy.— Apoe. L 3. 



FOURTH AMERICAN EDITION. 



NEW YORK : 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN DOYLE. 

1846. 



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021350 






THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



Notwithstanding the several editions of Pastorini's 
commentary on the Apocalypse, the work is, by no means, 
heavy on the hands of the booksellers. It may, in some mea- 
sure, be considered out of print. To satisfy a prevalent de- 
sire for a new and cheap edition, the present publication has 
been strongly urged. Perhaps it may be advanced, without 
the imputation of heated fancy, that the times, and "the signs 
of the times," we live in, seem to add a peculiarly new interest 
to this rare and celebrated production. 

The authors views of the awful prophecies, mysteries and 
judgments contained in the sacred volume, from which he has 
undertaken to illustrate the General History of the Church, 
have operated variously, as in course they must, upon various 
dispositions. In many minds they confirmed the old faith. 
In some they disturbed, or subverted new opinions. In some 
they excited, or seemed to excite, anger and ridicule. But, 
generally, they have been considered ingenious, interesting, 
and highly edifying. His admonitions are evidently directed 
by a spirit of charity, pure and universal — and his illustra- 
tions of the sublime text before him exhibited a mind, uncom- 
monly gifted with intuition, assiduity, and deep and discern- 
ing research. He seems to have sensibly apprehended that 
some of the dreadful scourges, menaced in the Revelations, 
were soon to fall on criminal and unrepenting nations — and 
he forewarns all Christians to strive, by sincere repentance, to 
avert, if possible, the impending judgment, or at least, to be 
prepared for its awful visitations. 

Sensible of the precision and brevity of the inspired writer 



4 PREFACE. 

of the Apocalypse, our author examines every word with 
scrupulous care, and turns his text on every side, in order to 
ascertain its true meaning. Unlike former commentators, he 
confines not his views to the early ages of the Church, but 
traces the divine economy in her regard from her foundation, 
through every succeeding period, to the end of time and her 
final triumphant introduction into heaven. For this arduous 
undertaking his station, talents, and learning, had eminently 
fitted him. 

The first edition of the present commentary on the book of 
Revelations appeared about the year 1776. It was soon bought 
up — and after much solicitation, the author consented to the 
preparation of a second edition, with additional remarks. 

Although no pains were particularly taken by the author 
or his friends to extend the circulation of the work, it soon 
found its way into foreign countries. A French translation 
of it was published in 1778; shortly after it appeared in 
Latin; in 1785 it was translated into German ; and a few years 
ago, an Italian version was sent to the public. Of the high 
repute, which this noted production has obtained in other coun- 
tries, we may judge by the following extract from one of the 
periodical works of the learned Abbe Feller, published in 
1786:— 

" Signior Pastorini's work is the only good comment, which 
England has produced on the Apocalypse — and the nation is 
much indebted to him, for having contributed to put down the 
extravagant notions of James I. and of the celebrated Newton, 
concerning this divine book. It is a learned and edifying per- 
formance, in which theology and ecclesiastical history reflect 
valuable lights on the most mysterious of the sacred writings. 
The wonderful prophecies it contains, realized as they are by 
striking, authentic, and public facts, inspire the christian soul 
with hope and fortitude, and give solemn testimony to the 
power and veracity of God. What remains as yet undisclosed 
is already manifesting itself in a sensible manner — and the 
times we live in are furnishing a faithful and lively picture. 11 



PREFACE. 5 

It is to be regretted, that the former editors of the work have 
but too poorly sketched their author's biography. They do 
not even mention his name — *nor do they recollect to tell us, 
that the appellation of Pastorini is merely significant of his 
ministry. This neglect gave occasion to a new display of the 
inventive faculties of Sir Richard Musgrave, in what he is 
pleased to call, jocosely we should think, his History of the 
different Rebellions in Ireland. That famous historian calls 
the present work a translation — " it was" he says, " written 
originally at Rome by a sanguinary bigot of the name of Pas- 
torini /" There is a species of censure, which has all the 
value of praise. The work was originally written in Eng- 
land, in the English language, and by an Englishman, under 
the assumed signature of Pastorini. It is not a translation — 
it is the original text. The author is the Right Rev. Charles 
Walmesx ey. D. D. Catholic Bishop, or Vicar Apostolic, of 
the Western District (in England) — Fellow of the Royal Socie- 
ties of London and Berlin — and one of the scientific men em- 
ployed in correcting the old style. This pious, and venerable 
divine w r as not " a sanguinary bigot." The whole tenor of 
his life and writings proves, that he was a most mild and en- 
lightened member of the Christian communion. The work 
before us abundantly establishes this character. Sir R. Mus- 
grave calls it "apiece of folly and blasphemy." Dr. Milner, 
a better judge, calls it " a most ingenious and learned exposi- 
tion of the book of revelations, calculated, he says, in his reply 
to the author of the different Rebellions, &c. to excite all 
Christians to lead a holy life, and to prepare for the coming of 
that awful Judge, before whom Sir Richard Musgrave will be 
arraigned for his unprecedented malice and calumnies."* 

The present publisher, after many solicitous inquiries, finds 
himself destitute of materials for a satisfactory biographical 
sketch of the distinguished individual, whose work he under- 
takes to re-commit to the press. The following is all that he 
has been able to collect. 

♦ An inquiry into certain vulgar opinions &c. p. 83— 2nd Edit. London, 
1# 



6 



PREFACE. 



Dr. Walmesley was born in the year 1721, in some part of 
England. With his parentage we are not made particularly 
acquainted — but, we may presume on its respectability, on ac- 
count of the high literary accomplishments which had been 
bestowed on him early in life. Gifted with abilities of the first 
order, and with a heart formed for piety and virtue, he dedicated 
himself; at an early period of his youth, to the study and prac- 
tice of religion. His attainments in sacired literature, and in 
mathematical and astronomical investigations, soon became con- 
spicuous. The former obtained for him the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity in the University of Paris. At the age of thirty- 
five, he was elevated to the episcopal dignity. He was also a 
member of the learned congregation of Benedictins. His valu- 
able contributions to the Philosophical Transactions in the 
years 1745, 6, 7, &c. — and his joint labours in correcting the 
old style in 1752, exhibit, altogether, very ample proofs of his 
mathematical learning. Before his return to England, on the 
close of his collegiate course, he visited many parts of the Con- 
tinent. During his travels, he wrote several learned tracts. 
To the loss, however, of the literary world, his manuscripts 
were unfortunately consumed by the fire, which broke out at 
Bath, some years since. In that city he died, in the 76th year 
of his age, and 40th of his episcopacy, having serenely closed 
a holy life, which gave fresh odour to sanctity, — and new lustre 
to virtue, to religion, and to learning. 



THE AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 



The Book of the Apocalypse, according to that learned in- 
terpreter of the Scriptures, St. Jerom, " contains an infinite 
number of mysteries relating to future times." Lib, L contra 
Jovin. " The Apocalypse," says St. Austin, " is a prophecy 
of what is to happen from the first coming of Christ upon 
earth, to his second coming at the last day." De. Civ. Dei. 1, 
2. c. 8. Some modern writers hold the same opinion. Besides 
these authorities, our own study of that mysterious book, dili- 
gently pursued, has entirely prevailed on us to espouse the same 
sentiments. The Apocalypse exhibits, in general, a summary 
of the whole history of the Christian Church, from the date 
of its birth to its triumphant and glorious state in Heaven after 
the close of time. This is the foundation of the present work, 
and we hope the attentive reader, when he has considered the 
whole, will approve our sentiments and applaud our endea- 
vours. He may perhaps then join us in thinking, that the 
celebrated commentators, Bossuet and Calmet, have too much 
contracted this admirable Prophecy by confining the contents 
to so short a period as the four first centuries of the Christian 
sera, and applying the whole, except the two last chapters, to 
the persecutions which the Church suffered from the pagan 
Roman Emperors, and to the destruction of the Roman em- 
pire. For this reason, the two above-mentioned authors have 
often been obliged to wrest the text, and give it a forced and im- 
probable explication, to bring it within their system. On the 
same account, they have derogated from the dignity and pre- 
cision of that prophecy, by applying several texts to the same 
event ; whereas, whoever looks attentively into the tenor of the 
Apocalypse, will perceive that St. John's precision and brevity 
are such, that he never repeats the same thing. 

For the unfolding of the different parts of the Apocalypse, 
we have followed, in general, the plan laid down by Mr. De 
la Chetardie towards the close of the last century, as it has since 
been improved by a late French commentator on the scrip- 
ture. It consists in a division of the whole Christian aera, to 
the end of time, into seven Ages, corresponding to the seven 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

Seals, seven Trumpets, and seven Vials mentioned in the Apo- 
calypse ; so that to each belong a Seal, Trumpet, and Vial. 
But in the application of the Prophecies contained under these 
Seals, Trumpets, and Vials, as well as in other parts of the 
Apocalypse, we have frequently deviated from the above-named 
writers, to substitute what we thought a more genuine expli- 
cation. It must then be observed, that an age and a century 
must not here be taken for synonymous terms ; butby an age 
in this history we shall understand one of the seven divisions 
of time above-mentioned ; neither are these divisions of time 
equal. 

From the preceding observations it follows, that Christ di- 
vides the history of his Church into seven periods, in each of 
which he describes three different sorts of transactions under 
the respective Seal, Trumpet, and Vial. The Lamb holds a 
book sealed with seven Seals, which he opens one after ano- 
ther. This book contains the history of the formation and 
propagation of Christ's Church, together with the opposition 
made to the establishment of it; and apart of this account is 
disclosed at the opening of each Seal. To every Seal corres- 
ponds a Trumpet, which is sounded by an angel. The sound 
of a trumpet naturally indicates an alarm, and such is the na- 
ture of the Trumpets in the Apocalypse. They always an- 
nounce events that are alarming to the Church, such as per- 
secutions, intestine convulsions occasioned by heretics, &c. 
After the Trumpets follow the Vials of the wrath of God. 
These convey the punishments which Christ inflicts on the 
enemies of his people. Hence it appears that the Seals, Trum- 
pets, and Vials, unfold the three kinds of events, which dis- 
tinguish each age of the Christian Church. One may re- 
mark in the history of the Jews, that nearly the same sort of 
economy was observed in the divine dispensations towards 
that people. They were favoured with the special assistance 
of God, but they had also their trials, persecutions, &c. and 
at other times they saw their enemies laid prostrate by the di- 
vine hand before them. 

When almighty God thinks fit to reveal future events, he 
generally expresses them in obscure terms that leave the mean- 
ing more or less uncertain. This seems to be done in order 
to prevent the daring presumption of some men, who might 
attempt, if the prophecies were clear, to obstruct and hinder 
their accomplishment. Others of mankind of a more timo- 
rous disposition, would be alarmed and over much terrified at 
disasters which they foresaw were impending upon them. On 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

another hand, if futurity was clearly foretold, it might seem 
to intrench upon that liberty, which God had been pleased to 
grant to man, of directing his own conduct and actions. For 
these reasons, the generality of prophecies are covered with 
a veil of darkness and uncertainty. Obscurity is therefore a 
general characteristic of prophecy, but it is peculiarly so of 
the Apocalypse, as every commentator has acknowledged. 
This book appears at first sight impenetrable. Let any one 
dip into it without having a key to open to him the meaning, 
and he will see nothing but a continued series of the most 
mysterious enigmas. Hence it has happened that so many 
different explanations have been invented. But the same ob- 
scurity was the occasion, that the ancient Fathers were so 
sparing in their interpretations of this prophecy. They have 
here and there explained a particular passage, without attempt- 
ing the whole, and sometimes only given a moral exposition 
of it. But in this we need not wonder, because as the Apo- 
calypse is the history of Christ's Church through the whole 
time of its existence, so few events had happened when they 
wrote, that the greatest part of the book must have appeared 
to them inexplicable. Hence we see the advantage of the pre- 
sent times for unravelling the mysteries of the Apocalypse, 
when so considerable a share of them has been fulfilled. 
Whoever looks back into the history of the Church, and 
compares attentively the facts with the expressions of St. John, 
will see a distinct analogy and connexion between them. It 
must however be allowed, there remain yet very many obscu- 
rities, which if we have not always sufficiently cleared, w T e 
hope the indulgent reader will consider the difficulty and ex- 
cuse the defect. 

The principal help for removing the obscurities of the 
Apocalypse arises from a right understanding of its general 
tendency. If a wrong system be adopted, the difficulty of re- 
conciling the different parts of the prophecy become insuper- 
able : and this has appeared fully in the attempts of several 
interpreters. But when the plan of the book is discovered 
and ascertained, the difficulties decrease and the obscurities 
gradually disappear. Thus a surprising light breaks in upon 
the Apocalypse, when we view it as the History of Christ's 
Church divided into seven periods or ages, as we have above 
explained. A second means of removing difficulties is, the 
taking notice of the order of the different parts that compose 
this prophetic book. St. John gives all the seals together, 
then all the trumpets, and lastly the vials in the same manner. 



10 INTRODUCTION. 



Under the seven seals a series of transactions is related which 
belong to the seven successive ages of the Church, and which 
terminate with the great day of judgment. The same course 
is observed in the trumpet and the vials. But we must how- 
ever remark, that, after finishing with the trumpets, he does 
not proceed immediately to the vials: nevertheless he ob- 
serves the same rule, namely, in returning, after the seventh 
trumpet, to relate a new series of events, but which are con- 
fined to the first, third, sixth, and seventh ages ; these ages 
being the most interesting to the Church, as the three first of 
them exhibit the history of idolatry, and the last or seventh 
relates to the general judgment. This narrative is given in 
the chapters xii. xiii. xiv. and as it is joined to that of the 
trumpets, it partakes of the nature of them, that is, it describes 
events that are alarming to the Church, with the addition 
however of some incidents or promises that administer com- 
fort in those alarming circumstances. 

The prophet, having thus carried us on to the end of time, 
begins again with the first age, and rehearses under the seven 
vials, in chap. xv. xvi. a new course of transactions that runs 
through all the seven ages. This narrative being terminated, 
he returns back, as he had done after the account of the trum- 
pets, to a new course of history, relating to the first, third, sixth, 
and seventh ages, beginning at chap. xvii. and ending with 
verse 10th of chap. xix. This piece of history is of such a 
nature as agrees with that of the vials to which it is joined, 
that is, it is a rehearsal of divine punishments ; to which are 
annexed exultations on these victories of Christ over his ene- 
mies. This being done, the prophet, according to his custom, 
begins again a new narrative of events, of the same nature as 
the preceding, and which also belong to those interesting 
ages, the first, third, sixth and seventh. This narrative begins 
at verse 11th of chap. xix. and continues to the end of chap. 
xx. Finally, the two last chapters conclude the prophecy, with 
an account of the other world, as it will be after the close of 
all time. Hence then appears the order observed in this in- 
comparable prophecy of the Apocalypse. As the whole His- 
tory of the Church, therein contained, is divided into seven 
Ages, so it is related, not indeed all that part together which 
belongs to each age, but in seven different series of events, six 
of which reach from the first age to the last day, and the 
seventh is the description of the next world. The first of these 
series is given under the seals, the second under the trumpets; 
the third in the chapters xii. xiii. xiv. the fourth under the 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

vials ; the fifth in chapters xvii. xviii. and part of chapter xix ; 
the sixth in the rest of chapter xix. and in chapter xx. ; and 
the seventh in chapters xxi. and xxii. This sevenfold divi- 
sion is conformable to the constant use made in the Apo- 
calypse of that mysterious number seven, as, of seven seals, 
seven trumpets, seven vials, seven churches, seven candle- 
sticks, seven spirits, &c. 

It is plain from this disposition of the plan of the Apocalypse, 
that it is necessary to transpose many things in order to form 
a regular narration : for, as St. John so often travels through 
the whole period of the Christian aera, at each time relating 
only a part of the transactions, we are obliged to collect from 
different parts of the book all those facts that belong to the 
same age. And we may observe, that the prophet is the most 
copious upon four of the seven ages, viz. the first, third, sixth, 
and seventh, as being the most interesting to the Church, and 
most remarkable for their transactions. 

Another help which we found for clearing up obscurities 
was, a very strict attention to the tenor of the text. The ex- 
traordinary nicety in the expressions, the sudden change of 
tense in the verbs, of number in the nouns, general words 
used in particular senses, the addition or omission of a word, 
with several such circumstances, are of* great consequence for 
discovering the true sense, and have not been by the generality 
of interpreters sufficiently attended to ; which indeed we may 
not wonder at, as such minute particularities are not generally 
expected, and there never has been seen a book written with 
that comprehensive precision and exact nicety which are ob- 
servable in the Apocalypse. , ; . «j 

In composing this work we have freely made use of other 
authors, where we liked their opinions ; and we hope to incur 
no censure, when on other occasions we have substituted our 
own. — Some few passages of the Apocalypse have been gene- 
rally understood in the same sense by all the ancient fathers 
of the Church and modern Catholic interpreters ; to these we 
havesciupulously adhered, and founded our interpretation on 
their testimony. In other places, where former writers took 
the liberty of interpreting and differed in their expositions, we 
have likewise thought it lawful to use the same liberty. We 
hope for indulgence, if in some few instances we appear to 
have applied the text of the ancient prophets to what they have 
not usually been applied. This freedom, we presume, is al- 
lowable, when the sense of the texts has never been fully set- 
tled. And here we cannot but remark that, whoever will take 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

the pains to study the Apocalypse, we apprehend he will per- 
ceive that it throws a new light upon several dark passages 
of the ancient prophets. Besides, it must be observed, that a 
prophecy is not always confined to one object, but often re- 
lates both to the figure of a thing and to the thing itself, and 
consequently has two accomplishments, the one inadequate and 
in part only, the other complete and perfect. How often, for 
example, is the same scriptural text applied in an imperfect 
sense to David or Solomon, which is fully completed in Christ, 
of whom they were figures ? Thus also the return of the 
Jews from the Babylonic captivity may be deemed a figure of 
their return from a much longer captivity in the latter period 
of the world, and both may be intimated together by the pro- 
phets : and so of other instances. On these grounds a text, 
that has been generally applied to the figure, we have some- 
times transferred to the thing itself, to show its full and ulti- 
mate completion. That part of the Apocalypse, which gives 
the prophetic history of past ages, we have illustrated with the 
real history of those times, that the accomplishment may clear- 
ly appear. If we have not always mentioned our vouchers, 
it is because we thought it unnecessary in the case of such 
short abstracts of history, especially as they are taken from 
the well known ecclesiastic historians of the times. In regard 
to the text of the Apocalypse, we have made use of the com- 
monly known English translation made from the Latin vul- 
gate ; at the same time taking notice of any difference, worth 
observing, between the translation and the original Greek. In 
fine, we here make our acknowledgments to those friends 
whom we have consulted, and who have assisted us in disco- 
vering and unfolding the mysterious senses of the Apocalypse. 
As to the time when this prophecy was delivered to St. 
John, it is generally understood to have been in the year 95 or 
96 of the Christian asra. This holy Apostle, after being im- 
mersed in a caldron of boiling oil at Rome, from which he 
came out unhurt, was banished by the emperor Domitian into 
the isle of Patmos in the Egean Sea or Archipelago, where, 
as we learn from himself, Apoc. i. 9. he was favoured with this 
most admirable and most comprehensive of all prophecies. 
" St. John was a prophet," says St. Jerom, " because being in 
the isle of Patmos, whither he had been exiled for the faith by 
the emperor Domitian, he received the Apocalypse or a reve- 
lation containing an infinite number of mysteries appertain- 
ing to future times." Lib. I. contra Jovin. He always enjoyed 
a superior share in the affections of his divine Master, and 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

among many proofs of it, he was indulged with this singular 
and extraordinary favour, not granted to any of the other apos- 
tles. This most instructive book we cannot but earnestly re- 
commend to every Christian, and we hope our recommenda- 
tion will have the more weight, as it is grounded on the words 
of the divine book itself: " Blessed is he, that readeth and 
heareth the words of this prophecy; and keepeth those things 
which are written in it," Apoc. i. 3. The obscurity, which 
covers the Apocalypse, has been the occasion of its having 
been so little attended to. We have therefore attempted to re- 
move that obstacle: but if we have not totally succeeded, we 
plead indulgence from the difficulty of explaining a prophecy 
so sublime, and the most mysterious that is extant. Besides 
the advantage resulting from a general survey of the history 
of the Church, another motive for attending to the Apocalypse, 
is the particular interest every Christian must take in that part 
of the history, which relates to the present time, and those 
scenes which are approaching. Much instruction may be 
drawn from the present state of the Church, as described by 
our prophetic writer, and caution ought to be the result for 
what we find is to happen hereafter. If God reveals to us 
mysteries, it is for our instruction : if he discloses to us future 
events, doubtless he does it to give us warning to prepare for 
them. This kind of economy almighty God observed towards 
mankind from the beginning, that in consequence of such pre- 
vious admonitions, his faithful servants should withdraw 
themselves from approaching calamities, while the wicked 
might impute to their own obstinacy the punishments that fell 
upon them. This bountiful administration of Providence ap- 
peared very conspicuous in favour of the Jews, who were 
generally forewarned by the prophets of the great events that 
concerned them. The same course we find the Almighty has 
pursued in the Christian age of the world. He has not in- 
deed sent a succession of prophets as he did to the Jews. The 
only considerable prophet Christianity can claim is St. John 
the apostle ; but then he as far excels any one of the ancient 
prophets, as his Apocalypse contains more matter, and com- 
prises a larger field of history. He grasps the whole period 
of Christianity. He describes the birth of Christ's Spouse, 
his Church, and gradually conducts her through her whole 
progress, till she arrives at the full possession of her Lord in 
everlasting glory and bliss. The finger of God appears 
plainly stamped upon the book of the Apocalypse, it so far ex- 
ceeds the reach of human composition. The divine pen is 
2 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

visible in every line, as each sentence is apparently written 
with such precision and accuracy, that a word cannot be added 
or retrenched without derogating from the sense. The figures 
and allegories here employed are truly sublime, grand, and 
beautiful, and closely adapted in all their parts to the subject. 
Some of them are borrowed from the ancient prophets, but 
heightened by superior strokes. St. John's subject, the history 
of Christ's kingdom, as it surpasses in dignity the object of 
all preceding prophecies, so he exhibits it in colours that out- 
shine all former prophetic descriptions. This kingdom of 
Christ, the greatest of all kingdoms, and his government of 
it, the most perfect of all governments, are described in a style 
proportionally exalted. The ancient prophets announced the 
orders and instructions they received from God, and were only 
favoured with visions in some particular cases : but the be- 
loved disciple of Christ, not only receives from his Lord the 
verbal account he delivers, but is admitted to see transacted 
before him every scene of the history which he writes. Again, 
the ancient prophets chiefly confined their accounts to the 
temporal transactions of kingdoms ; but St. John, after giving 
the history of the Christian Church, for the whole time of 
her existence in this world, describes her future triumphant 
state in the heavenly Jerusalem, the period of which will be 
equal to that of eternity. Besides, the picture which he there 
gives of the heavenly Jerusalem is drawn with such exqui- 
site art, is painted with such striking colours, and enriched 
with such charming scenes, and with such a collection of the 
choicest, the most valuable, and the most shining objects in na- 
ture, that the whole surpasses greatly whatever human con- 
ception is capable of imagining or combining together. Such 
then being the extent, the usefulness, and the excellence of the 
prophecy delivered in the Apocalypse, what can be more cu- 
rious or interesting than a history founded upon it? 



THE 

GENERAL HISTORY 

OF THE 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

DIVIDED INTO SEVEN AGES, 

AND DEDUCED CHIEFLY FROM THE 

APOCALYPSE. 



f^ 3 Before we enter upon this prophetic History, it will be necessary to 
explain the first chapter of the Apocalypse, as it contains the Preface to 
the whole book,— and, on that account, is essential to the present work. 



CHAPTER L 

Explication of the first Chapter of the Apocalypse. 

Verse 1. " The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God 
gave unto him, to make known to his servants the things 
which must shortly come to pass : and signified, sending by 
his angel to his servant John. 

V. 2. "Who hath given testimony to the word of God, 
and the testimony of Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath 
seen." 

We are here informed that the book of the Apocalypse is a 
Revelation, which Jesus Christ, as Man-God, received from 
God : the purpose of which is to disclose to his servants, the 
Christians, a series of events very interesting to them, and 
which must shortly come to pass. This revelation Jesus 
Christ communicates by the channel of his angel, whom he 
sends to deliver it to his servant John. The character here 
given to this servant John shows him to be the Apostle St. 
John ; for he is here said to have given testimony to the word 



16 HISTORY OF Tiir iiiuistian ciivKCir. 

of God, by his preaching and suffering for the cause of God, 
and to have also given testimony of Jesus Christ, by bearing 
witness to what things soever he had seen of his divine Mas- 
ter. And this account of him coincides with what St. John 
says of himself at the beginning o( his first epistle; " That 
which we have heard," says lie, "which we have seen with 
our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have 
kindled, of the word of life — we declare unto TOO." 

We have said that it was Christ who signified or notified 
this his Revelation, sending it by his angel ; which is con- 
tinned by what he himself speaks in the conclusion of the 
Apocalypse : M 1 Jesus have sent my angel, to testify to you 
these things in the churches A Apoc. wii. 10. Hut it might 
be equally said, that Qod himself communicated this prophecy 
by his angel; for we likewise read: M The Lord God of the 
spirits of the prophets sent his angvl to show his servants the 
things which must be done shortly, " Apoc. wii. 6, which 
words are quite similar to those above of verse first How- 
ever, it is not material whether to Qod or to Jesus Christ the 
communication of the prophecy be ascribed, when we con- 
sider the divinity of Christ. 

Another observation we must here make, is concerning- the 
angel of Cod or Christ, who is sent to communicate the Apo- 
calypse to St. John. He is generally supposed to he a real 
angel: but upon close examination WO think he will appear to 
be St. John the Baptist. This personage is peculiarly vested 
with the character of angel* or messenger of God and Christ, 
and is denominated such in the ancient prophecies, and hy 
Christ himself: — "Behold L send my angel;' said the Lord 
by his prophet Malachy, "and he shall prepare the way be- 
fore my face," Mai. iii. 1. which Christ applies to his precursor, 
S: John Baptist. "This is he," says Christ, "of whom it is 
written : Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall 
prepare the way before thee/' Mat XL 10 The same is also 
continued by the Baptist's own declaration: " I am," says he 
"the voice of one crying- in the wilderness, make straight the 
of the Lord," John i 23. which plainly speaks his func- 
tion of angel or messenger of Chris ither proof is 
rived from the words of the angel himself, who thus speaks to 
S: Johl the Apostle: " I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
brethren who have the testimony of Jesus " A 10. And 
a. " I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the pro 
S, and of them that keep the words of the prophecy of this 

* The w iger. 



HISTORY of rn CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 17 

be 

that I) respond* very justly with th< 

mrho had been a fellow-servi Apostle 

and Ml brethren in gi Jeans, &>o. A fund 

John the Baptist : who, as he 

; so 

Church. JK 

perhaps 

form and ;jpp< ucb OH t>u>; 

ordsof 

en irj 
or toe tixr. 

ed in the / 

pee j /or 
the word* of this prophecy; and 

ritten in it, that is, who cotioe of the 

vs which are written in it, . o compare them with 

what dy fulfilled by real events, to beware of wh 

,me, and to draw proper h 
e prophecies are the 

prnplishnu of them, and the 

wili follow in their order. Tc 

-; suited, M lOfl 
history will always be near tc omplishr 

[t might I ike wife be said, that the whole would hap;, 
with allusion to the shortness of all time w\^n toom 

r 
f with the J>ord is a thousand da thot, 

years as one ij thai of ti 

rs in thy Sight, are hut a* yesterday, which is past 

V. 4 "John to the seven chur* 

llun that is, | 
e: and from the seven spirits wruo:. 

■ser Ash 
which will be specified below, ver. 1 1 
shall aee him there receive an order to send r. r . 

He base churches, v. 

benediction and n /.ho was 

rem Almighty God, whc 

* J th< ,sc that hear/ 1 &c. 



18 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

all eternity, continues to exist, will remain for all eternity, and 
will come at the last day to reward his faithful servants, and 
to punish the wicked. The Apostle offers the same good 
wishes from the seven spirits which are before the throne of 
God, always ready to depart and execute his commands with 
respect to mankind. These are " ministering' spirits, sent to 
minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salva- 
tion." Heb. i. 14. 

V. 5. " And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, 
the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of 
the earth : who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
his own blood. 

V. 6. "And hath made us a kingdom* and priests to God 
his Father : to him be glory and empire for ever and ever. 
Amen." 

St. John continues his salutation to the seven churches, 
wishing them grace and peace from Jesus Christ, whom he 
entitles the faithful witness, as having given testimony to his 
eternal Father upon earth, and executed faithfully the com- 
mission he had received from him. He is also the first-be- 
gotten of the dead, having raised himself from death to life 
by his own power, which no man ever did or can do, nor can 
Lny man rise again but by virtue of the resurrection of Christ, 
according to that of St. Paul : " By a man came death, and by 
a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, 
so also in Christ all shall be made alive." 1 Cor. xv, 21, 22. 
Jesus Christ is likewise styled the prince of the kings of the 
earth not only as God, but likewise as God-Man having ac- 
quired, by the merits of his Incarnation, a sovereign power 
on earth. On that account, " all power is given to me," says 
Christ, "in heaven and in earth." Mat. xxviii. 18. And again, 
*■ The F cither hath given to the Son power to do judgment." 
Why so ? " Because he is the Son of man," John v. 27. Here 
we see ascertained the universal dominion of Christ. Then 
follow the gracious effects of his bounty towards mankind ; 
for, " he hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood;" and he " hath made us kings and priests to God 
and his Father," that is, he hath made us his co-heirs, and has 
admitted us to a participation of his own sovereign power 
over the world, and likewise of his priesthood, by virtue of 
which we become also " a holy priesthood," as St. Peter says, 
44 to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus 
Christ." 1 Pet. ii. 5. This communication of power granted 

* In the Greek text, " made us kings." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 1VJ 

by Christ to his servants, by which they become kings and 
priests, will chiefly take place in the other world ; and it is not 
only founded on the present text, but is clear from our Saviour's 
own words : " I dispose to you," says he, u as my Father has 
disposed to me, a kingdom : that you may eat and drink at my 
table in my kingdom, and may sit upon thrones judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel." Luke xxii. 29, 30. And again, " To 
him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with me on my 
throne." Apoc. iii. 21. To Christ therefore, our bountiful 
Saviour and gracious benefactor, be glory and empire for ever 
and ever. Amen. 

V. 7. " Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye 
shall see him, and they also that pierced him. And all the 
tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. 
Even so. Amen." 

The same Jesus Christ, w T ho is prince of the kings of the 
earth, who has washed us from our sins in his blood, who has 
chosen us and made us kings and priests to God, is equally 
entitled to be our judge, and will effectually come in his sove- 
reign power at the last day to Judge the world ; at which tim^ 
every eye shall see him ; and his countenance will be terribly 
to those who pierced him and crucified him. And even all 
the tribes of the earth, or the people of all nations upon the 
face of the earth, will mourn and bewail his death, being 
amazed and confounded at the unparalleled impiety of those 
men who crucified him. In the two preceding verses were de- 
scribed the functions which Jesus Christ, the Son of God 
made man, performed upon earth, in fulfilling the charge he 
had received from his Father in redeeming the world, &c. 
These functions we see here completed by his coming at the 
last day to judge mankind, and to decree their rewards and 
punishments. 

V. 8. " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, 
saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, 
the Almighty." 

Here the Almighty himself speaks : I am Alpha and Ome- 
ga ; Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the 
Greek Alphabet, the meaning of which in this place is ex- 
plained by the subsequent words, the beginning and the end. 
I am, says Almighty God, the beginning and end of every 
thing, I am the first cause and last end of all beings. I am 
the source, from which every thing flows, and to which every 
thing must return. I created the world by my power, I govern 
it by my wisdom, and shall put an end to it at my pleasure. I 



20 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

am he who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 
See above, ver. 4 

Thus we see the two great personages, who here preside 
through the whole scene of the Apocalypse, God, and Jesus 
Christ. They are placed in the supreme degree of eminence, 
and are clearly distinguished by their respective titles and at- 
tributes. 

They are exhibited as the Sovereign rulers of the universe, 
the moderators of all human transactions. And thus is nobly 
ushered in the prophetic history, which begins as follows : 

V. 9. " I John your brother and your partner in tribulation, 
and in the kingdom, and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the 
island, which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for 
the testimony of Jesus. 

V. 10. "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard be- 
hind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 

V. 1 1. " Saying, what thou seest, write in a book : and send 
to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, and to 
Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and 
to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." 

St. John here informs us, that he had shared in the perse- 
cution and tribulation, which were common to the Christians; 
that he was partner with them in being a member with them 
of the body of Christians, which formed the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ. By the orders of the Emperor Domitian, St. John, as 
we have seen, was put into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome, 
which he bore with invincible patience, and came out unhurt; 
after which he was banished into the island of Patmos, in the 
Archipelago. There he was an exile for the word of God, 
for having preached the word of God in opposition to the su- 

f>erstitions of idolatry, and for the testimony of Jesus, or for 
laving borne testimony to Christ, by confessing publicly his 
holy name, and maintaining his doctrine. He was there in 
spirit on the Lord's day, or Sunday, which being sanctified by 
the great mysteries of the resurrection of Christ, and the de- 
scent of the Holy Ghost, was certainly a proper day for re- 
ceiving this important revelation, which comprises the whole 
history of the Christian Church, from her birth to her final 
triumphant state in heaven. 

He then proceeds to describe the manner in which this his- 
tory was communicated to him : And I heard behind me a 
great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, what thou seest, write in 
a book. We proved, ver. i. p. 2. that this prophecy was deli- 
vered to the Apostle by the angel of Christ, St. John Baptist: 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 21 

and he is the great voice like that of a trumpet, which here 
speaks to the apostle ; for the function of the voice on this oc- 
casion is similar to that which the Baptist performed when on 
earth. He then announced, as with the voice of a trumpet, the 
coming of his divine Master : " I am the voice," says he, " of 
one crying in the wilderness : make straight the way of the 
Lord." John i. 23. In like manner he is here distinguished by 
the appellation of a great voice, and announces what is and 
what will be his Master's government and administration of 
his Church. Besides, we read in verse the first of chap. iv. 
of the Apocalypse : " The first voice which I heard, as it were 
of a trumpet speaking with me, said: Come up hither and I 
will show thee the things which must be done hereafter ;" 
which being compared to verse the eighth of chap. xxii. " After 
I had heard and seen, I fell down to adore before the feet of 
the angel, who showed me these things ;" it plainly appears 
that the voice and the angel indicate the same person, viz. St. 
John Baptist. This observation premised, the apostle is told: 
What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven 
churches which are in Asia, &c. He is ordered to send this 
book of the Apocalypse to the seven Asiatic churches men- 
tioned in the text, whence it was circulated over the christian 
world, and transmitted down to us. 

V. 12. " And I turned," continues St. John, "to seethe voice 
that spoke with me : and being turned, I saw seven golden 
candlesticks. 

V. 13. " And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks 
one like to the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to 
the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 

V. 1 4. " And his head and his hairs were white, as white 
wool, and as snow : and his eyes were as a flame of fire. 

V. 15. " And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning 
furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 

V. 16. "And he had in his right hand seven stars. And 
from his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword : and his 
face was as the sun shineth in his power." 

St. John, in looking behind him to see the voice that spoke 
to him, is surprised by the appearance of a remarkable scene: 
Seven golden candlesticks standing, and in the midst of them 
a person resembling the Son of Man, or Christ, clothed with 
a long garment down to the feet, and girt about the breast 
with a golden girdle, a dress that denotes high rank and dig- 
nity; and being girt in this manner shows him to be abo ; 
business, namely the government of his Church. His h':ud 



22 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

and hair were white, as white wool, and as snow ; an emblem 
of Christ's divine existence from all eternity, whiteness of 
hair naturally indicating old age. And his eyes were as a 
flame of fire, as piercing as the flame of fire, penetrating into 
every thing as he himself says : " I am He, that searcheth 
the reins and hearts." Apoc. ii. 23. His feet were like unto 
fine brass, as in a burning furnace ; the feet make the extremity 
of the body, and appear here inflamed as brass in a glowing 
furnace, to show that at the extremity or end of time, Christ 
will come to destroy the world by fire. His voice was as the 
sound of many waters ; his voice sounded like the noise of 
many flowing waters, as terrible as the roaring of a tempest- 
uous sea. Such will be his voice in denouncing sentence 
against the wicked at the last day. In his right hand he held 
seven stars, which will be explained below, ver. 20. And from 
his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword, the terrible 
weapon which Christ will use, as we shall see hereafter, 
to slay Anti-christ and his armies. It appears to proceed from 
his mouth, as ready to execute his command. It also shows 
in general, that Christ punishes his enemies. Lastly, his face 
shone as bright as when the sun shineth in its full power ; 
this is the bright pleasing countenance which he will show to 
his saints at the last day. 

Thus appears the Son of Man, arrayed in dignity, with the 
marks of his unlimited power and dominion, with the symbols 
of his divine and human attributes, and as the sovereign Ad- 
ministrator of his Church. 

V. 17. " And when I had seen him," continues St. John, 
" I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon 
me, saying : Fear not, I am the first and the last. 

V. 18. " And alive,* and was dead. And behold I am 
living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of 
hell." 

St. John, struck at the awful appearance of his Lord, falls 
down at his feet as dead; but is raised up by Christ, who tells 
him not to fear, and adds, I am the first and the last : I exist 
before all created beings, and shall continue to exist when time 
shall be no more; I am from all eternity, and shall be to all 
eternity. I am alive and was dead : I am the living one ; life 
is essential to me, as God ; but I died, as Man-God ; and be- 
hold I am now living for ever and ever. I hold the keys of 
death and of hell ; mine is the power of opening the graves, and 
raising the dead bodies ; mine is the power of opening hell, 

♦In the Greek text, "the Living-one." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 23 

and drawing thence the souls, to reunite them to their bodies : 
and thus I am He that shall resuscitate all mankind, and shall 
be their Judge, 

V. 19. " Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, 
and which are, and which must be done hereafter." 

Our Saviour here orders St. John to w r rite the scene he has 
already seen, and the things which are, or which have just now 
been dictated to him ; and to write also the things which .nust 
be done hereafter, that is, the history, that will presently be 
given him, of the events which will happen in the Christian 
Church. 

V. 20. " The mystery of the seven stars," continues our 
Saviour, " which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven 
golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven 
churches ; and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches." 

Here Christ himself explains to St. John the mystery or 
meaning of two particulars : the seven stars, which thou 
sawest in my right hand, are, or denote the angels of the 
seven churches in Asia, that is, the bishops of those churches : 
and the seven candlesticks are, or represent those seven 
churches. Let us also observe, that these seven candlesticks, 
or seven churches, may very well represent all the churches 
of the christian world ; and in that case, our Saviour, who is 
placed in the midst of them, is naturally exhibited as adminis- 
tering and governing the whole. 



CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF THE FIRST AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Christ proceeds, in the second and third chapters of the 
Apocalypse, to dictate to St. John particular instructions for 
each of the seven above mentioned churches ; which as they 
do not belong to the general history of Christianity, we shall 
pass over, and shall now proceed to the fourth and fifth chap- 
ters, which open a general magnificent scene, that prepares us 
for the particular transactions. 

Prelude to the Opening of the seven Seals. 

Apoc. chap. iv. 1. "After these things I looked," says 
St. John, " and behold a door was opened in heaven, and the 
first voice which I heard as it were of a trumpet speaking 



24 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

with me, said : Come up hither, and I will show thee the things 
which must be done hereafter. 

V. 2. " And immediately I w T as in the spirit : and behold 
there r/as a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne one 
sitting. 

V. 3. " And he that sat was to the sight like the jasper and 
the sardine stone : and there was a rainbow round about the 
throne, in sight like unto an emerald." 

No sooner had St. John received, in the preceding vision, 
the documents he was to transmit to the seven Asiatic churches; 
when behold ! a new scene displays itself. Heaven opens. 
St. John is invited up thither by the voice which had spoken 
:o him before, that is, by St. John Baptist, and is told he shall 
see what is to happen in future ages. On a sudden appears a 
throne, and the Almighty himself seated upon it, shining in 
the brightest lustre of jasper green and sardine red, the green 
colour, as best proportioned to the human eye, speaks his 
mercy, and the red his justice: these two attributes bearing a 
particular relation to mankind. The throne is surrounded 
with a rainbow, in which shines remarkably a most beautiful 
green, like that of emeralds. This rainbow, with iu bright 
green colour, denotes the covenant of reconciliation and peace, 
which God made with man after the deluge. 

V. 4. " And round about the throne were four and twenty 
seats : and upon the seats, four and twenty ancients sitting, 
clothed in white garments, and on their heads crowns of gold." 

Round the throne of God appear sitting four and twenty 
ancients, representing the saints that preceded the age of 
Christianity, and for that reason called ancients. They are 
clothed in white to express the immortal glory they possess in 
heaven; and their crowns of gold show their royal dignity, 
God admitting them to sit as judges with him. In the same 
manner it was said, that Christ makes his saints kings, Apoc. 
i. 6.— Seep. 18. 

V. 5. u And from the throne proceeded lightnings and 
voices, and thunders : and there were seven lamps burning 
before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God." 

The lightnings, loud voices, and thunders, which come from 
the throne of God, announce alarms and severe hardships, 
such as persecutions, dissentions, calamities, &c. by which he 
tries the fidelity of his servants on earth. And the seven spirits 
ol God, who appear under the form of burning lamps, are 
seven angels as before mentioned. Apoc. i. 4. standing ready 
to execute the divine commands. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 25 

V. 6. " And in the sight of the throne was as it were a sea of 
glass like to crystal : and in the midst of the throne and 
round about the throne were four living creatures full of eyes 
before and behind. 

V. 7. " And the first living creature was like a lion : and 
the second living creature, like a calf; and the third living 
creature, having the face, as it were of a man : and the fourth 
living creature was like an eagle flying. 

V. 8. " And the four living creatures had each of them six 
wings : and round about,* and within, they are full of eyes.' 1 

The extensive sea of glass here described, transparent as 
crystal, represents what may be called, the floor of heaven. 
Before the throne of God and round it stand four living crea- 
tures of an extraordinary shape, which denote the four great 
prophets, Isaiah, Jeremy, Ezechiel, and Daniel. Their bodies 
are described full of eyes both before and behind, an emblem 
of their prophetic sight, that penetrates into all ages, past, pre- 
sent, and to come. And they being also full of eyes within, 
indicates that their extensive knowledge arises from an interior 
divine Inspiration. They have each six wings, in the same 
manner as the seraphims appeared to the prophet Isaias, Isa. 
vi. 2 : Two wings serve to cover their face, two their feet, out 
of respect for the Deity : and the two others serve to fly, that 
is, figuratively express their expeditious readiness to carry and 
deliver the divine instructions and messages. 

Some have imagined these four symbolical living creatures 
to represent the four Evangelists, but we think improperly; 
as St. John was still living, and there present in person. Be- 
sides, the scene exhibited here to St. John represents the times 
and persons that existed before the age of Christianity. The 
first living creature is here said to resemble a lion, the king 
of beasts ; because the prophet Isaias, represented by it, was 
descended by the royal race of David. The second living crea- 
ture resembles a calf, and represents the prophet Jeremy, in 
his character of a priest ; the calf which was the principal 
victim in Jewish sacrifices, being on that account the emblem 
of priesthood. The third living creature, exhibiting Ezechiel, 
has the countenance of a man ; because God, in speaking to 
that prophet, always addresses him by the name of Son of 
man. The fourth living creature, denoting Daniel, resem- 
bles a flying eagle, on account of the sublime oracles of this 
prophet, who soars to the highest object, and views the succes- 
sion of all the great empires, that were to rise up in the world 

* In the Greek, " six wings about him ; and within/' &<r 
3 



26 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN OHOKCH. 

to the end of time. Probably these four principal prophets are 
to be understood to represent all the prophets of the old law. 

V. 8. " And they (the four living creatures) rested not day 
and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, 
who was, and who is, and who is to come ! 

V. 9. " And when those living creatures gave* glory and 
honour and benediction to him, that sitteth on the throne, who 
liveth for ever and ever. 

V. 10. " The four and twenty ancients fell down before him 
that sitteth on the throne, and adored him that liveth for ever 
and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 

V. 11. " Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, 
and honour, and power : because thou hast created all things, 
and for thy will they were,f and have been created." 

The Almighty being seated on his throne, in the splendour 
of his majesty, with the marks of his supreme power, sur- 
rounded with the august choir of the ancient Saints and Pro- 
phets ; these Prophets, represented by the four living crea- 
tures, are constantly employed in offering their homage to 
him and singing his praises. They cry out day and night, 
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty ! &c. repeating three 
times Holy, probably in honour of the Blessed Trinity ; and 
for the same reason they give to God three different kinds of 
praise, glory, honour and benediction, or thanksgiving. And 
whenever the four living creatures sing these praises, the four 
and twenty ancients are ready to join their homage, by falling 
down before him that sitteth on the throne, and adoring Him 
that liveth for ever and ever; and in token of their acknow- 
ledging all their happiness and pre-eminence to be his gift, 
they cast down their crowds before the throne ; and thus they 
conclude their homage : Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, 
to receive glory, honour, and power : because thou hast created 
all things, and for thy will they are, and have been created; 
that is, we acknowledge thy power, O Lord, because by thy 
Omnipotence thou hast created all things ; honour is due to 
thee, because by thy will they are, or continue to exist ; glory 
is due to thee, because they were created to serve to thy glory 

Apoc. chap. v. 1. " And I saw," says St. John, M in the right 
hand of him that sat on the throne a book, written within and 
without, sealed with seven seals." 

The book, which Almighty God holds in his right hand, 
contains the detail of his administration of the Christian church; 

* In the Greek, M shall give," &c.— " the four and twenty ancients will 
fall down," &c. tin the Greek, " they are." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 27 

the length of which detail is marked by the hook being writ- 
ten both within and without. It is sealed up, as containing 
the divine counsels, impenetrable to human sagacity; and the 
seven seals indicate that the whole is divided into seven parts, 
each of which is uniblded and made known at the opening of 
each respective seal. 

V. 2. " And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud 
voice : Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals 
thereof? 

V. 3. " And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on 
earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it." 

A strong angel cries out with a loud voice, to be heard over 
the whole creation, Who is worthy to open the book, and to 
loose the seals thereof? But there is not found a creature, 
either in heaven or on earth, or elsewhere, worthy to do this 
function, or even to look on the book, the eyes not being here 
permitted to view the repository of the divine dispensations, 
which, the book being yet sealed up, are kept concealed from 
human understanding. 

V. 4. " And I wept much," continues St. John, " because no 
man was found worthy to open the book,* nor to see it. 

V. 5. " And one of the ancients said to me, weep not, be- 
cause the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath 
prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." 

St. John, mortified and weeping, because no one was found 
worthy to open the book, is told by one of the four and twenty 
ancients to cease weeping; for that the lion of the tribe of 
Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, &c. 
Christ the Messiah, who is born of the tribe of Juda, and who 
is the root that springs from the royal race of David, is, on 
account of his achievements, styled the Lion of that tribe, con- 
formably to Jacob's prophecy : " Juda is a lion's whelp," Gen. 
xlix. 9. He, the Messiah, David's descendant, like a valiant 
lion, conquered Satan, death, and the world. He put a stop 
to Satan's power, by breaking down the empire of idolatry, he 
discharged the great functions he undertook to perform on 
earth, he reconciled man to his eternal Father, he raised him- 
self from death, he established his new Law notwithstanding 
the most obstinate opposition from the world, and he founded 
his Church at the expense of his blood. By these victories 
he is here proclaimed to have merited to open the book, that 
contains the account of the divine dispensations to that church 
— accordingly, 

* The Greek text here adds, !t and to read it." 






28 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 6. " And I saw," says St. John : " and behold in the 
midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the 
midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having 
seven horns and seven eyes : which are the seven spirits of 
God, sent forth into all the earth. 

V. 7. " And he came and took the book out of the right 
hand of him that sat on the throne." 

We had just now seen Christ represented as a strong and 
valiant lion subduing his enemies ; here we see him in the 
humble character of a lamb, which appears as it were slain, 
that is, newly sacrificed and immolated for the redemption of 
the world. But the Lamb is standing, that is, though he has 
been slain, he is resuscitated to life, and recovered all his 
strength and vigour : and he is seen placed in the midst of 
the throne, which bespeaks his divine origin and person. This 
lamb has seven horns, signifying the seven particular powers 
which he exercises in the seven successive ages of the Chris- 
tian Church: and to show his wisdom and vigilance, he has 
also seven eyes denoting the seven spirits of God abovemen- 
tioned, Apoc. i. 4. and iv. 5. or angels, who are always ready 
to execute the commands of God and the Lamb, and to carry 
their messages over the whole earth. The number seven here 
used, corresponds to the seven periods or ages, into which the 
whole duration of the Christian Church is divided : so that, 
when it is said, that the lamb has seven horns and seven eyes, 
it is meant, that the Lamb, or Jesus Christ, governs his Church 
through its seven successive ages by his power and wisdom, 
and by the ministry of seven angels, who may be supposed to 
be appointed over the seven ages of the Christian Church, each 
angel to each age. 

The Lamb goes and takes the book from the hand of God, 
who sitteth upon the throne: 

V. 8. " And when he had opened the book,* the four living 
creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before 
the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials 
full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints : 

V. 9. " And they sung a new canticle, saying : Thou art 
worthy, O Lord, to take the book and to open the seals thereof: 
because thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in thy 
blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. 

V. 10. " And hast made us to our God a kingdomf and 
priests, and we shall reign on the earth." 

* In the Greek text, " when he had taken the book," and so read most 
of the ancient interpreters. t In the Greek, kings. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 20 

The Lamb having taken the book, the four living creatures 
and the four and twenty ancients, or the prophets and the saints 
prior to Christianity, whom they represent, fall down and adore 
him, having in their hands harps and golden vials full of odours, 
which are the prayers of the saints. The prayers of the saints, 
that is, of the faithful on earth, are here described as sweet 
odours, and are presented to Christ by the saints in heaven. 
Then the four living creatures and the four and twenty 
ancients, being postrate before the Lamb, sing a new canticle; 
new, because the subject of it is new, viz. the actions of the 
Lamb. This new r canticle is, Thou art worthy to take the., 
book, and to open the seals thereof; because thou wast slain, 
and hast redeemed us, not only us but also our posterity, the 
christian race ; for thou hast redeemed us, out of every tribe, 
and tongue, and people, and nation. Thus these saints and 
prophets acknowledge, that the Lamb has, at the expense of 
his blood, redeemed mankind, and restored them to the rights 
they had lost by Adam's sin, and consequently that he is en- 
titled to an absolute dominion over them through all succeed- 
ing generations. Thus they also acknowledge, that they are 
indebted to him for the ineffable blessings of heavenly glory, 
and of kingly and priestly power, which they now possess, 
and which will hereafter be likewise the portion of their pos- 
terity. On these accounts they proclaim, the Lamb has merited 
to take the book, and open the seals thereof, that is, to reveal 
to men w r hat relates to his Church. Thus we see the dou- 
ble character of Christ. What he is here declared to have 
merited as the slaughtered Lamb, he was also before en- 
titled to in quality of the conquering Lion. 

V. 11. "And I beheld," proceeds St. John, "and I heard 
the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living 
creatures and the ancients : and the number of them was 
thousands of thousands. 

V. 12. " Saying with aloud voice: The Lamb, that was 
slain, is worthy to receive power, and divinity,* and wisdom, 
and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction." 

After the adoration and homage paid to the Lamb by the 
ancient prophets and saints, St. John now sees an infinite num- 
ber of angels round the throne and round the celestial choir, 
who come next to address the Lamb with their praises and 
loud applauses, saying, the Lamb, that was slain, is worthy to 
receive power, and riches, &c. because by being slain, he has 

*In the Greek text, riches. The manuscripts and the ancient writers 
read the same. 

3» 



30 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

purchased a power of forming to himself a people out of every 
nation of the earth, that is, of founding a new universal church, 
and has also merited to be vested with the government of it 
through all succeeding time. And as the period of the Chris- 
tian Church's duration is, by divine appointment, divided into 
seven ages, so the Lamb is represented as entitled to seven spe- 
cial qualities, power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory 
and benediction, which bear a relation to that part of his go- 
vernment of the church, which is described under the seven 
seals. These seven qualities are therefore to be applied to the 
seven successive ages, each to each respectively ; and there, the 
meaning of them will be explained. 

V. 13. "And every creature, which is in heaven, and on 
the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
all that are in them : I heard all saying : To him that sitteth 
on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and 
glory, and power, for ever and ever." 

After the homage of the angels, succeeds that of all crea- 
tures, both animate and inanimate, which are in heaven, and 
on the earth, and under the earth, or in hell, and in the sea; 
and in fine, of all that are in them, that is, of every individual 
atom of the creation. They are all heard to say: To him 
(God) that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb, benediction 
and honour and glory and power for ever and ever. Thus 
they pour forth their praises to God and the Lamb, for their 
creation, their conservation, the beautiful harmony and order 
they hold in the general system of nature, &c. In the verses 
9th and 1 1th, in the preceding pages, see p. 28 and 29. three 
times of praise were offered to him that sitteth on the throne; 
here a fourth is added, viz. power, on account of the Lamb, 
who has acquired all power over this world, and which is thus 
confessed by every individual part of it. In the same sense 
St. Paul declares, that "in the name of Jesus every knee shall 
bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." 
Philip, ii. 10. 

V. 14. " And the four living creatures said: Amen. And 
the four and twenty ancients fell down on their faces, and adored 
him that liveth for ever and ever." 

To the above praises and homage offered to God and the 
Lamb, the four living creatures, or ancient prophets, join their 
assent by saying, Amen. This conclusion comes suitably from 
them who had so often proclaimed to the world the great works 
of the Almighty and the Lamb, and their gracious dispensa- 
tions to mankind. Then, conformably to what is said in the 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 31 

preceding page, verse 9th and 10th, see p. 28 the four arid 
twenty ancients close this awful and religious scene of ho- 
mage and praise by adoring the Almighty in unity of God- 
head. 

Thus we have seen an august scene exhibited, where God 
the Almighty appears, shining in all the brightness and dig- 
nity of Divine Majesty, and round him an illustrious choir, 
composed of the ancient pronjiets represented by four emble- 
matical animals, and of four and twenty ancients representing 
all the saints of the ages antecedent to Christianity. By this 
disposition of the scene, our view is removed back to the time 
of the close of the Old Law, and the commencement of the 
New, that is, to the birth of the Christian Church. The 
ancient saints and prophets sound forth their praises, their 
thanks, and hymns of gratitude to God for all his blessings 
received, and for the all wise and bountiful economy he had 
exercised over them through all past ages. And thus they 
close up the period of the patriarchal and Jewish Church. 

The Lamb then appears who had just been slain for the re- 
demption of the world. He has by his blood acquired the do- 
minion over the whole succeeding race of mankind ; and 
therefore he now opens a new period by founding his own 
Church, the Church of the Christians, of which he is declared, 
conjointly with God, Lord and governor. Immediately the 
ancient prophets and saints direct their homage to him, ac- 
knowledging they owe to him their redemption, their power 
and bliss, and all other blessings. Thus they give testimony 
to the Lamb, they confess his sovereign power, and that his 
reign now begins, and will last for ever. The same is re- 
echoed by every part of the creation. — We must observe, that 
no Christian saints appear in this celestial assembly : the rea- 
son is, because the scene exhibits to us the moment in which 
Christianity commences. 

The Opening of the first Seal. 

Apoc. chap. vi. v. 1. " And I saw," says St. John, "that the 
Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of 
the four living creatures, as it were the voice of thunder, say- 
ing: Come and see. 

V. 2. " And I saw : and behold a white horse and he that 
sat on him had a bow, and there was a crown given him, and 
he went forth conquering that he might conquer." 

Previously to the explication of the text, let us observe, that 
at the opening of each seal of this mysterious book, a new 



32 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

spectacle offers itself to St. John, which seems to represent, 
under an emblematical figure, what is written in that part of 
the book that is laid open on breaking the seal. And the seven 
figurative representations, that thus follow on the opening of 
the seven seals, mark seven particular events, which open the 
seven ages, into which is divided the whole period of the 
church's existence. This observation premised. 

At the opening of the first seal, there appears to St. John a 
person upon a white horse. This person is our Saviour, as 
appears from chapter xix. of the Apocalypse, ver. 11 and 13, 
where St. John says, " I saw heaven open, and there appeared 
a white horse; and he that sat upon him, was called the Faith- 
ful and True. And his name is, the Word of God." The 

crown that is here given him, and the white colour of his steed, 
show him victorious and triumphant. Christ had been victo- 
rious; first, over Satan, by overthrowing the dominion that 
murderous enemy had usurped over mankind; secondly, in 
purchasing, by extreme suffering, and at the price of his blood, 
a perpetual peace between God and man ; thirdly, in conquer- 
ing death, by raising himself to life from the grave by his own 
power. Fraught with these victories, he had ascended trium- 
phant in glory into heaven, amidst the acclamations of the 
heavenly choirs, singing, " Princes, lift up your gates ; eter- 
nal gates, be ye lifted up, and the King of glory shall enter 
in." Psalm xxiii. 7. Being therefore exalted to all the honours 
of a glorious King and conqueror, he here appears in the 
equipment belonging to that character, and w r ith bow in hand 
sets out to prosecute his conquests, in subduing the world to 
the dominion of faith by the preaching of his apostles, and 
his other succeeding ministers. 

Thus then opens and commences the first age of the Chris- 
tian Church, which may take its date from the day of Pente- 
cost, or Whitsunday, when the apostles began to preach. And 
the conquest, or conversion, which followed, of so many na- 
tions to the faith, show r s evidently in Christ the exercise of 
that power, which was attributed to him, Apoc. v. 12. See p. 
29. Let us also observe, that on opening the seal, one, or the 
first of the four living creatures, which, as we have shown, 
represents the prophet Isaias, says to St. John, Come and see ; 
which is spoken, as with the voice of thunder, to mark the im- 
portance of the vision : and the invitation to a view of our 
triumphant Saviour comes properly from Isaias, who had so 
minutely prophesied of all that related to him. 

To understand how the conquest of the world was made to 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 33 

the Gospel, we must take notice that, as soon as the apostles 
had received the Holy Ghost, ten days after the ascension of 
Christ, they immediately proceeded to execute the commission 
given them by their divine Master, when he told them, M Go, 
and teach all nations," Mat. xxviii. 16, " but to begin by Jeru- 
salem and Judaea," Luke xxiv. 47. and Acts i. 8. They spent 
therefore some time in labouring at the conversion of the Jews, 
of whom no small number embraced the Christian religion, 
though much the greater part remained obstinate in their infi- 
delity. This work being done, the apostles separated and dis- 
persed themselves into different nations, to announce to them 
the new tidings of salvation. St. Peter retired to Antioch, 
where he founded a church, and having governed it for seven 
years, and preached over a great part of lesser Asia, he went to 
Rome, and there fixed his see. St. Andrew preached to the 
Scythians, and afterwards in Greece and Epirus. St. Philip 
in higher Asia. St. Thomas preached to the Parthians, then 
eastwards as far as the Indies. St. Bartholomew went into 
Armenia, and some part of India. St. Matthew employed his 
labours in Parthia and other eastern countries of Asia. St. 
Simon in Mesopotamia and Persia. St. Jude or Thaddee in 
Mesopotamia and Arabia. St. Matthias in the countries bor- 
dering on the Caspian sea. St. John fixed his see at Ephesus 
in Asia Minor, in which country he founded several churches, 
which he governed till his death. The two St. James's, one of 
whom was the first bishop of Jerusalem, chiefly confined their 
preaching to Judaea. St. Paul announced the gospel to many 
nations, but he was principally employed in Asia and Greece, 
and finished his mission in Rome. 

By these zealous messengers of Christ, the gospel was 
spread throughout the world, according to that of the royal 
Prophet : M Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: 
and their words unto the ends of the world." Psalm xxviii. 5. 
The success of their preaching was the more wonderful, as 
all human considerations conspired against it. This new doc- 
trine was entirely opposite to the received maxims of the world; 
it declared war against the passions of mankind, it taught self- 
denial and mortification, it preached a contempt of what is 
generally admired, it condemned all other religions, and abso- 
lutely required a most virtuous conduct in all its professors. 
Moreover, its ministers, the apostles, were not possessed of 
those natural endowments, which might make impression upon 
their hearers, and conciliate their minds to a new doctrine. 
They were illiterate men, chosen from the lowest conditions 



34 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

of life, destitute of all human succour, without the advantages 
of education, and without human eloquence. Notwithstand- 
ing the want of these helps, they were inspired with such a 
spirit of zeal, and with such supernatural force of elocution as 
not to be resisted. But, above all, the power of performing- 
miracles was their peculiar badge which stamped upon their 
words the seal of divine attestation. These were the means 
by which truth began to shine forth in a garb w T hich it had 
never worn before. It now laid open to view the errors man- 
kind had hitherto been enslaved to, it withdrew the veil of igno- 
rance that had overshadowed human reason, it dispelled the 
darkness of paganism and superstition, and by its native lustre 
it discovered the imperfection of all the systems of doctrine 
proposed before by the so much boasted philosophers of anti- 
quity. Such became the case with a Socrates, a Plato, an 
Epictetus, a Cicero, &c. Those sages, as they were styled, not 
aware of the weakness of human reason unassisted by revela- 
tion, gave precepts of morality and maxims for the conduct of 
life, which were in admiration for many ages ; but when that 
light appeared, which came down from heaven with the Son 
of God, it then became manifest how defective those dictates 
were. In the same manner as the stars in the firmament strike 
us with their lustre, and shine with advantage, in the night, 
but when the great luminary of the day, the sun, comes forth, 
the brightness of the stars immediately fades, and soon vanishes, 
so likewise, when the Son of God thought fit to grace this 
world with his presence, it became necessary that all former 
legislators and philosophers, however eminent, should be 
eclipsed by his superior excellence, and that every human in- 
stitution of doctrine should give place to the new precepts of 
his all-comprehending wisdom. 

The great structure of religion, which the apostles had 
begun, was carried on by their faithful and zealous suc- 
cessors through the subsequent ages. Thus he went forth 
conquering that he might conquer; and, thus he doth to this 
day, and will continue so to do. 

Prelude to the sounding of the seven Trumpets. 

Apoc. chap. viii. 2, " And I saw," says St. John, " seven 
angels* standing in the presence of God: there w r ere given 
to them seven trumpets." 

St. John now is directed to turn his eyes to the seven 
angels, who were seen standing before the throne of God in 

♦ In the Greek text, "the seven angels." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 35 

heaven, Apoc. i. 4. and iv. 5. and seven trumpets are given 
to them; one of these trumpets is sounded in each of the 
seven ages of the Church, probably by that angel who is 
appointed to superintend that age — Then, 

V. 3. " And another angel came, and stood before the altar, 
having a golden censer; and there was given to him much 
incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon 
the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. 

V. 4. " And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the 
saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel." 

In imitation of the golden altar of incense that stood in the 
Jewish tabernacle before the Holy of Holies, there is here a 
golden altar of incense placed before the throne of God, to 
which an angel comes holding a golden censer. This is 
presently filled with much incense, which represents the 
prayers of all the saints, that is, of all the servants of God on 
earth: and thus the angel offers these prayers, which ascend 
up as the odour of so much fragrant incense before God, so 
pleasing are they to him. We saw, Apoc. v. 8. see p. 28. the 
saints in heaven presenting the prayers of the faithful to the 
Lamb ; and here the same kind of function is performed by an 
angel: which shows how the angels are employed in good 
offices for mankind. Another instance of this sort is seen in 
the book of Tobias, where the angel tells that holy man. 
" When thou didst pray with tears, — I offered thy prayers to 
the Lord." Tob. xii. 12. 

V. 5. " And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the 
fire of the altar, and cast it on the earth, and there were thun- 
ders, and voices, and lightnings, and a great earthquake." 

The angel having performed the religious rite of offering 
the prayers of the saints to God, he then takes the censer, and 
fills it with fire from the altar of holocaust; such altar appear- 
ing to St. John in heaven similar to that which formerly 
belonged to the Jewish tabernacle. The censer so filled with 
fire, the angel casts down on the earth. This is a figurative 
intimation of God's design to try his servants on earth by the 
fire of tribulation, like gold in the furnace. The Almighty 
had just received their prayers with great complacency, and 
doubtless never ceases to keep a paternal eye over them, and 
to cover them with his protection: but he here lets them know, 
it is the disposition of his Providence to put them to the test, that 
those who are truly his servants, and firm in their faith and 
charity, may be distinguished from the hypocrites and pusil- 
lanimous. Accordingly, upon the falling of the censer on the 



36 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

earth, there happen thunders, and voices, and lightnings, 
and a great earthquake ; which metaphorically express four 
various kinds of tribulations, which are to befall the Christians 
at the sounding of the four first trumpets, and which will then 
be seen; and there the abovementioned four metaphorical 
terms will be explained. The three last trumpets, as we shall 
see hereafter, have three particular woes annexed to them. 

V. 6. " And the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, 
prepared themselves to sound the trumpet." 

The trumpet is generally sounded for war, or to give notice 
of any public danger or alarm. And such is the case here. 
The seven angels sound at different intervals of time their 
trumpets, to announce alarms to the Christians, such as per- 
secutions, heresies, wars, &c. trials with which they must 
struggle, and which the Almighty sends them for their 
probation. 

It may not be improper to observe, that the magnificent 
scene, which was exhibited in heaven in the prelude to the 
opening of the seals, receives here an addition by the appear- 
ance of two new objects, the altar of incense and the altar ot 
holocausts. These are very aptly introduced, to point out 
some particular circumstances that have relation to the trum- 
pets. The first altar, on which the Jews offered daily incense 
to God, presents to our mind the daily offering the Christians 
make to God of their fervent and holy prayers, which ascend 
to heaven like sweet perfumes : while at the same time, the 
altar of holocausts, on which the Jewish victims were burned, 
is here a just representation of martyrdom, by which the 
Christians are immolated as so many victims to God in the 
fire of persecution. 

As before the opening of the seals we saw, p. 31, the close 
of the Old Law and the commencement of the New ; so 
here, before the sounding of trumpets a confirmation of the 
same appears, by two Jewish altars, of incense and holocausts, 
being removed out of sight on the angels proceeding to sound 
the trumpets which relate to the Christian Church. 

The sounding of the first Trumpet. 

Apoc. chap. viii. 7. " And the first angel sounded the 
trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, 
and it was cast on the earth, and the third part of the earth # 

* "The third part of the earth was burnt," is not in the common Greek 
1ext ; but it is found in several very good manuscripts, and in the Svriac 
and Arabic versions. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 37 

was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and 
all the green grass was burnt up." 

This shower of hail and fire mingled with blood, denotes 
the cruel and bloody persecutions exercised against the 
Christians in the three first centuries, till Constantine, the 
first Christian emperor, put a stop to them. The words, hail, 
fire, and blood, pretty plainly express some of the most 
remarkable kinds of death inflicted on the Christians; some 
being consumed by fire, others having their blood spilt by 
the sword, and others being stoned to death, which kind of 
execution may very well be represented by hail. This terri- 
ble shower fell upon the earth, which here represents the 
Church of Christ, in its first quiet state, in allusion to the 
land which is the stable part of the terraqueous globe. Then 
a third part of the earth was destroyed by the shower, that is, 
the persecutions swept away nearly one third part of the 
Christians. But in particular, a third part of the trees was 
burnt, that is, a third part of the pastors, with their clergy, 
meant here by the trees, were sacrificed in the fire of per- 
secution: and all the green grass, or best grass, was con- 
sumed, that is, all the most fervent and perfect among the 
faithful were blessed with the crown of martyrdom. 

Persecutions, tortures, violent deaths by martyrdom, are 
such objects of alarm and terror to human nature, that they 
may, with great propriety, be metaphorically styled thunders * 
Apoc. viii. 5. 

At the opening of the first seal we saw the conversion of 
Jews and Pagans to the Christian faith, and thus the kingdom 
of Christ took its rise. But no sooner is the infant Church 
formed, than the trumpet of alarm sounds, and Christ permits 
his new-acquired people to be subjected to rigorous trials by 
repeated persecutions, and their fidelity to be put to the strict- 
est test. Such is the economy of his unfathomable w r isdom. 

Satan, who had usurped for many ages almost an universal 
empire in the world, by setting himself up to be worshipped 
in the place of God, seeing his throne shaken by the propaga- 
tion of the Christian religion, was deeply stung, and resolved 
to exert his utmost efforts to crush the new rising power, and 
to support his own. For that purpose he set out by stirring 
up the potentates of the earth: and as the monarchy of Rome 
was at that time exceedingly powerful, and extended over a 
great part of the then known world, his chief attempt was to 
instil the poison of his malice into the minds of the pagan 
Roman emperors, and to inspire them with the rankest hatred 
4 



38 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

against the Christian religion. To open the scene of his 
hellish machinations, he made use of the Emperor Nero, 
doultless a very proper instrument for the work, as being 
already a monster of cruelty and vice. He freely drank the 
poisonous cup offered him by the devil, and first of all the 
Roman monarchs, drew his sword against the Christians. 
Nine other general persecutions were raised by the subsequent 
emperors, of all which we shall here insert a brief account. 

The first Persecution under Nero. 

This brutal prince had privately ordered the great city of 
Rome to be set on fire, which reduced the greatest part of it 
to ashes. Finding himself detested by the people, who im- 
puted the mischief to him, in order to clear himself, he 
endeavoured to transfer the odium upon the Christians, whom 
he charged with being the incendiaries, and immediately 
began to persecute them in the most bloody manner. Some 
were wrapt up in skins of wild beasts, and so exposed to be 
worried by dogs ; others were crucified; others burned alive, be- 
ing clad in coats dipped in pitch or brimstone, that they might 
serve as torches in the night. The Church celebrates on the 
24th of June, the memory of all these martyrs, the first fruits 
which heathen Rome sent up to heaven. Before the end of 
this persecution suffered the two great pillars of the Church, 
SS. Peter and Paul, at Rome, in the year 67 ; the first being 
crucified with his head downwards; the second, being a 
Roman citizen, was put to death by the sword. In conse- 
quence of the severe edict of Nero, many Christians were 
sacrificed to the fury of the Pagans in the different provinces 
of the Roman empire. 

The second Persecution under Domitian. 

The disturbances in the Roman empire under the em- 
perors Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, and the humane disposition 
of Vespasian and Titus, gave some rest to the Christians, 
till Domitian succeeding, began the second general persecu- 
tion. This emperor, a second Nero in cruelty, instigated by 
the malice of Satan, published in the year 95 new edicts 
throughout the empire against the Christians, by virtue 
of which great numbers were made victims of religion. In 
Rome, among others he put to death Flavius Clemens, his 
own cousin-german, for being a Christian, and banished Cle- 
mens' s wife Domitilla. SS. Nereus and Achilleus suffered 
also in this persecution ; as likewise Antipas, mentioned in 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 39 

chap. ii. 13. of the Apocalypse, whom Christ calls there 
" his faithful witness." It was by this tyrant's order that 
St. John the Apostle was sent for to Rome, and was cast into 
a caldron of boiling oil, but coming out more vigorous than 
before, he was banished to the isle of Patmos. 

The third Persecution under Trajan. 

The Christian religion, by the beginning of the second 
century, had prodigiously increased, and spread itself through 
a great extent in Europe, Asia, and Africa ; and all consider- 
able cities were governed by their respective bishops. Tra- 
jan, the Roman emperor, according to the Pagan writers, 
was of a mild temper, and possessed of many amiable quali- 
ties, which gained him from the senate the title of" Optimus," 
or " good prince." But this glorious title received a black and 
indelible stain from the persecutions which he permitted to be 
carried on against the Christians. For, though he issued 
out no new edicts against them, he suffered the former san- 
guinary laws to be executed in different parts of the empire in 
the years 106, 107, &c. A clear instance of this appears in 
his answer to Pliny the younger, governor of Pontus and 
Bithynia, who had writ to know his pleasure, what should 
be done with the Christians, who were very numerous in the 
provinces of his government. Trajan's answer was, " Let 
the Christians not be sought for ; but if they be accused and 
convicted as such, let them be punished." The chief of those 
who gained the crown of martyrdom in his reign were, St. 
Clement, bishop of Rome ; St. Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem ; 
St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, whom Trajan himself con- 
demned and sent to Rome, there to be torn to pieces by wild 
beasts in the amphitheatre. 

The fourth Persecution under Marcus Aurelius. 

The fourth persecution finds its place in the reign of Mar- 
cus Aurelius, in the year 166, &e, Many Christians indeed 
had been sacrificed under the Emperor Adrian, by virtue of 
former laws remaining in force, but at last he mitigated them 
by an express order. Marcus Aurelius was extremely super- 
stitious ; and as he also boasted of being a philosopher, he 
was easily instigated by the heathen priests and philosophers 
against the Christians, whose principles of religion and phi- 
losophy were so contrary to theirs. If Aurelius issued out 
no new edicts, he permitted at least the governors of provinces 
to put into execution the laws subsisting. And that the per- 



40 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

secution was very violent and bloody, appears from the several 
apologies presented to him by St. Justin, Melito, Athenagoras, 
and Apollinaris, entreating him to put a stop to it. The same 
is also evident from the number of those that were crowned 
with martyrdom. In Asia, St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, 
was put to death, and many others about the same time. At 
Rome was beheaded St. Justin, who wrote two apologies for 
the Christians. Several others shared with him the same 
crown. At Lyons, St. Pothinus the bishop, and many of all 
ages and conditions were, through the most acute and cruel 
torments conveyed to heaven. At length the emperor put an 
end to the persecution about the year 174, prevailed upon, as 
it is supposed, by the signal favour he and his army, in the 
German war, received from heaven by the prayers of the 
Christian legion. He was shut up in narrow denies, and 
surrounded by the Gluadi and Marcomanni, and his soldiers 
were ready to perish with excessive heat and thirst. Under 
these calamities, the Christian soldiers humbly addressed 
themselves to God, who immediately sent a plentiful shower 
of rain, which relieved Aurelius's army, and at the same 
time a violent storm of hail, with dreadful flashes of light- 
ning, upon the enemies ; which gave a complete victory to 
the emperor. 

The fifth Persecution under Severus. 

After the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180, the Christians 
enjoyed a respite of tolerable peace till the reign of Severus, a 
crafty, treacherous, and bloody prince, and by his nature truly 
answering his name. He at first treated the Christians with 
humanity, but was afterwards prevailed upon by their enemies 
to commence a furious persecution. He not only suffered the 
governors of the provinces to persecute the Christians by the 
laws already standing, but he gave out in the year 202 fresh 
edicts, which were executed with such rigour and barbarity, 
that the faithful imagined the time of Antichrist was come. 
About the beginning of this persecution, Tertullian wrote his 
apology for the Christians, a masterly work, in which he 
refutes all the calumnies published against them, shows the 
divine morality of their doctrine, and exposes the absurdity of 
the Pagan religion. But it does not appear so pathetic an 
address had any effect. The fire of this persecution raged 
through all the provinces of the Roman empire, but far from 
consuming the Church of Christ, it only served to purify it, 
and to make it shine with greater lustre. The most illus- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 41 

trious victims immolated on this occasion were St. Victor, 
bishop of Rome : Leonidas, Origen's father, beheaded at 
Alexandria ; and several of Origen's scholars. St. Pota- 
miaena, an illustrious virgin, and her mother Marcella, after 
various torments, were burned alive. SS. Felicitas and Per- 
petua, the one a noble lady in Mauritania, and brought to bed 
but the day before ; the other at that time a nurse ; St. Spera- 
tus and his companions beheaded at Carthage ; St. Irenaeus, 
bishop of Lyons, and many thousands of his people martyied 
with him. 

The sixth Persecution under Maximinus. 

During the space of twenty-four years, times were peace- 
able for the Christians, till Maximinus stept into the imperial 
throne in 235, a man of base origin and barbarous nature. 
He raised the sixth persecution, chiefly against the bishops 
and ministers, and the teachers and principal promoters of 
Christianity. The historian Capitolinus says of him, that, 
" never did a more cruel beast tread on the earth." St. Pontian, 
pope, suffered in this persecution, and several others. Hap- 
pily it did not last above two years, Maximinus being cut off 
after a short reign. 

The seventh Persecution under Decius. 

For ten years from the death of Maximinus till the reign 
of Decius, the Church enjoyed a tolerable tranquillity ; and as 
Maximinus' s persecution was chiefly levelled against the pas- 
tors, the bulk of Christians had tasted the sweets of peace for 
thirty-eight years. This period of tranquillity occasioned, con- 
formably to the bent of human nature, a remissness in the 
Christians, and a relaxation in their morals : of which St. Cy- 
prian, who lived at that time, grievously complained. Almighty 
God, therefore, to punish their neglect, to revive their fervour, 
and to try them in a fiery crucible, permitted a most severe 
general persecution under Decius, in the year 249. This sa- 
vage emperor, seeing that Christianity had gained prodigious 
growth over the whole Roman empire, and that paganism on 
that account visibly declined, was resolved to support the 
latter by effectually ruining the former. He therefore issued 
out a cruel edict against the Christians, and sent it to all the 
governors of provinces. The Christians were immediately 
driven from their houses, and stript of their estates ; whips 
and prisons, fires and wild beasts, scalded pitch and melted 

wax, sharp stakes and burning pincers, were the ordinary 
4 # 



42 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

instruments used for their torments. Slow tortures were par- 
ticularly employed in order to tire out the patience of the 
sufferers. This persecution crowned at Rome Fabian, pope, 
Abdon and Sennen, and many others. A great harvest of 
martyrs was made at Carthage: Appollonia, with many 
others, suffered at Alexandria, as related by St. Dionylius, 
bishop of that see. In the east it swept away Baby las, bishop 
of Antioch ; Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, with thousands 
more. Such was the rage of the pagan magistrates, that the 
historian Nicephorus declares, it would be easier to count 
the sands of the sea, than to reckon up all the martyrs of the 
persecution. Many Christians fled from the scene of slaughter 
into the deserts. One of this number was St. Paul of the 
province of Thebais in Egypt, who became an eminent an- 
choret, and is styled the first hermit. 

The eighth Persecution under Valerian, 

Valerian being invested with the imperial purple, was at 
first very favourable to the Christians ; but he suffered his 
mind to be poisoned by the suggestions of magicians, who 
persuaded him, that to procure success in his wars, and pros- 
perity to the empire, he must render the gods propitious by 
suppressing Christianity. In this view he issued out edicts, 
and commenced a bloody persecution in the year 257, which 
lasted three years and a half. Some of the chief martyrs 
were at Rome, St. Stephen, pope, his successor St. Xystus, 
with St. Lawrence his deacon ; St. Fructuosus, bishop of 
Tarragon in Spain ; St. Saturninus, bishop of Toulouse, and 
St. Felix of Nola. Many were the holy victims in Egypt, 
as St. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, relates. Violent also 
was the persecution in other parts of Africa, where many 
suffered death, and many others were condemned to work in 
the mines : but the most eminent of the martyrs in that part 
of the world was St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who had 
so strenuously supported the Christian religion by his writings 
and example, and had encouraged others to martyrdom both 
by his words and letters. He had escaped the persecution of 
Decius ; but now he was first banished, then beheaded for the 
faith, in the neighbourhood of Carthage. 

The ninth Persecution under Aurelian. 

The Emperor Aurelian, in the beginning of his reign, 
behaved with humanity towards the Christians ; but being 
strongly attached to idolatrous worship, he at last sent out, in 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 43 

the year 274, violent edicts to exterminate the Christian reli- 
gion : but as he died soon after, this persecution was short. 
The principal victims it sent to heaven were : St. Felix, pope j 
St. Mamas, at Caesarea in Cappadocia ; St. Agabitus in Italy; 
St. Savinianus, bishop of Troyes ; St. Reverianus, bishop of 
Autun ; St. Columba, virgin, and many others in France. 

The tenth Persecution under Dioclesian. 

The tenth and last general persecution, the most severe and 
most bloody of all, was set on foot by the Emperor Dioclesian. 
The Christian religion had by this time gained so much 
ground, that in every province of the Roman empire, and 
even almost in every town, multitudes professed it, and public 
churches had been built, where they assembled for prayer, 
and other holy exercises. Satan now raging with envy, and 
seeing his empire near expiring, seemed to summon up his 
whole strength, in order to make a last effort for the support 
of idolatry, and the destruction of Christianity. He inspired 
Dioclesian, and his colleague Maximian, with the most ranco- 
rous hatred against the Christians. Dioclesian published an 
edict at Nicomedia, in the year 303, ordering the churches id 
be pulled down, and the Holy Scriptures to be burnt. But 
this was only a prelude to his subsequent inhuman edicts, 
which presently deluged the Roman empire with Christian 
blood. Cruelties hitherto unheard of, and all kinds of tortures, 
were employed upon the Christians. Some were hung w r ith 
their heads downwards and suffocated by slow fires, as in 
Mesopotamia ; others were broiled upon gridirons, as in Sy- 
ria. Some were slain by breaking their legs, as in Cappado- 
cia ; others had sharp reeds thrust under their nails, and 
others melted lead poured upon them, as in Pontus. Some 
were beheaded in Arabia ; others devoured by wild beasts in 
Phoenicia. In Egypt infinite numbers suffered; some of 
whom, after being cruelly scourged, racked, and having their 
flesh torn off with pincers, or racked off with pieces of broken 
pots, were committed to the fire, or thrown into the sea. In 
Phrygia, a populous city, consisting all of Christians, was 
surrounded by a body of soldiers, who set fire to it, and men, 
women, and children, were all consumed in the flames. In 
fine, Eusebius the historian, who was eye-witness of some of 
these barbarous scenes, says, that the cruelties exercised 
against the Christians w T ere innumerable, and exceeded all 
relation. He also adds, that the people were not suffered to 
buy or sell any thing, or to draw water from the public foun- 



44 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

tains, without first offering incense to idols, placed there for 
that purpose. It would be endless to reckon up the number 
of martyrs of these times. 

Thus was the persecution carried on by Dioclesian in the 
East and Maximian in the West, and afterwards by their suc- 
cessors, for the space of ten years, with some interruptions ; 
till Constantine, the first Christian emperor, put a stop to it 
in the year 313, and gave peace to the Church. 

"Whoever desires a fuller account of all these persecutions, 
may have recourse to the writers of Ecclesiastical History, 
Eusebius, Lactantius U mortibus Persecutorum, Tillemont, 
Cave, &c. What has been here said, explains sufficiently 
the meaning of the shower of hail and fire mixed with blood, 
which fell upon the Christian Church, according to the text 
of Apocalypse here considered. 

And now may we not, for a moment, take a quiet view of 
the triumph of the Church over all her enemies ? The 
Devil, like a fiei'ce lion had closely watched her : and made 
repeated furious attempts to devour her : but the Lion of the 
tribe of Juda stood for her protection, and defeated all his 
assaults. Those haughty princes, the Roman emperors, by 
Satan's instigation, bore down against her with all the weight 
of their power, to which the faithful opposed no other arms 
but patience. Nevertheless, the edifice of the Church could 
not be thrown down, because he that built it was himself the 
corner stone, and had declared, it should stand for ever. The 
Pagans persuaded themselves, that by dint of tortures, and 
severities, they could totally crush the Christians, and extin- 
guish their very name; but their expectations were frustrated, 
and they saw them daily increase under those very oppres- 
sions The more Christians they tortured, or put to death, 
the more converts were made from the view of such amazing 
examples of fortitude; and the Christian blood they spilt, as 
Tertullian told them, was the seed of new Christians The 
heavy pressures the Church laboured under, served to purify 
her members, like gold in the furnace, and from the fire of 
persecution she rose up, like the Phoenix, more bright and 
more vigorous. The idolatrous emperors of Rome looked 
upon the Christian religion as a mere human invention, and 
in this lay their mistake : they were ignorant that the work 
was of divine construction, that it was the new kingdom of 
the God of Heaven which had just been founded, and to which, 
by the eternal decrees, all other kingdoms were to give place, 
Dan. ii. 44. It was the stone, foretold by the prophet Daniel, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 45 

"cut out of the mountain without hands," Dan. ii. 34, which 
should break down all preceding powers, even the great em- 
pire of Rome itself; that is, it should destroy the empire of 
idolatry in all nations, and reduce them to the obedience of its 
own laws, even Rome itself, which was to be for a time the 
chief seat and fortress of idolatry. " This stone," pursues the 
same prophet, " grew up into a great mountain, and filled the 
whole earth," Dan. ii. 35, which signifies that the extent of 
the Christian religion was to have no other bounds but the 
extremities of the earth. Such being the solid foundation of 
the Church laid by the Almighty's hand, all human efforts 
against her must of course prove vain and abortive. The 
persecutions, however violent, had no other effect but to throw 
a gloomy veil over her for a while : but that being once re- 
moved, she appeared with new strength, and like the sun 
emerging from an eclipse, she shone forth with greater lustre, 
and spread her influence over the whole earth. 

Prelude to the pouring out of the seven Vials. 

Apoc. chap. xv. 1. "And I saw," says St. John, "another 
sign in heaven great and wonderful : seven angels, having 
the seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the wrath of 
God."* 

Here is a new vision, great and wonderful, shown to St. 
John : seven angels holding the figurative symbols of seven 
plagues or scourges, that is, of seven dreadful punishments. 
They are called the last, because in them is filled up or com- 
pleted the wrath of God, being inflicted on mankind in the 
last period of the world, which is the period of Christianity. 
Accordingly, the first of these scourges take place, as we shall 
see, soon after the beginning of the Christian aera, and the 
seventh puts an end to the world. 

V. 2. " And I saw," continues St. John, " as it were a sea 
of glass mingled with fire, and them that had overcome the 
beast, and his image,! and the number of his name, standing 
on the sea of glass, having the harps of God : 

V. 3. " And singing the canticle of Moses the servant of 
God, and the canticle of the Lamb, saying: Great and won- 
derful are thy works, O Lord God Almighty : just and true 
are thy ways, O King of ages.f 

♦In the Greek text, "having seven plagues the last, because in them 
was fulfilled the wrath of God." 
+ In the Greek is added, " and his character." 
Jin the Greek, "king of saints." 



46 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 4. " Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and magnify thy 
name? for thou only art holy. For all nations shall come, 
and shall adore in thy sight, because thy judgments are mani- 
fest. n 

By the sea of glass is meant, as before explained, the firma- 
ment that makes the floor of heaven ; which here is said to 
be mingled with fire, in allusion to the persecutions and trou- 
bles, which the faithful servants of God, who are seen stand- 
ing on this sea, have sustained during the whole course of the 
Christian ages. For here, it must be observed, we are trans- 
ferred to the moment of time, when all the seven scourges are 
completed and past, which is at the end of the world. Sup- 
posing ourselves therefore at that point of time, we see a great 
body of Christian saints standing upon the sea of glass. But 
who in particular are they ? Those who have overcome the 
beast and his image, and his character, or mark, and the num- 
ber of his name. By a beast is generally meant an animal 
that destroys mankind, or ravages a country. In allusion to 
that idea, the beast here stands for idolatry and heresy ; both 
which always make great devastation and desolation in the 
Church. Pursuant to that double meaning of the beast, its 
image denotes, either the idols of the pagan gods, or the 
pernicious tenets of heresy. By the character or mark of the 
beast, we may understand, either a real distinctive mark of 
idolatry or heresy, or a special power exercised in defence of 
either. The number of the name of the beast is appropria- 
ted, as we shall see hereafter, to the famous abettor of idola 
try, Antichrist. Those Christian champions, therefore, who 
have courageously suffered death, or persecution, or other 
tribulations, rather than join with idolatry or heresy under 
any respect whatever, are here collected together in heaven, 
holding in their hands celestial harps to sound the praises of 
God. They are employed in singing the canticle of Moses 
the servant of God, and the canticle of the Lamb ; the first 
to acknowledge the power and justice of God in the seven 
terrible plagues or punishments, which he has inflicted upon 
their enemies, the idolaters and heretics. Thus in that sense 
they sing : Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God 
Almighty. This canticle is here said to be the canticle of 
Moses the servant of God, because it bears the sense, and is 
sung in imitation, of the canticle which the Israelites sung to 
God, after having passed the Red Sea under the conduct of 
Moses, and seen their enemies perish in its gulf. For thus 
sung they : " Let us sing to the Lord ; for he is gloriously 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 47 

magnified, the horse and the rider he has thrown into the 
sea," &c. Exod. xv. 1. To the canticle of Moses the Christ- 
ian saints immediately join the canticle of the Lamb, sing- 
ing ; " Just and true are thy ways, O King of saints :" thus 
extolling his justice and bounty in his dispensations to them, 
for having subjected them to severe trials, having safely con- 
ducted them through by his grace, and crowned them with 
victory. Then they conclude their religious hymn in address- 
ing Almighty God thus : " Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, 
and magnify thy name ? for thou only art holy. For all na- 
tions shall come, and shall adore in thy sight, because thy 
judgments, or punishments, on the impious are manifest." 

From what has been exhibited in this scene we learn, that 
the Almighty is jealous of whatever injuries are offered to 
his servants, and takes upon himself the judgment of their 
cause. Though for the proof of their zeal, and for their 
greater crown, he permits their enemies for a while to exer- 
cise their tyrannical power over them, yet in his wisdom he 
reserves to himself a time, in which he will revenge the evils 
done to them, and severely punish their persecutors. Not 
only former ages furnish a great number of known instances 
of such punishments, but the word of God openly declares 
such to be the tenor of the divine economy. "Will not 
God," said our Saviour, " revenge his elect who cry to him 
day and night : and w r ill he have patience in their regard ? 
I say to you that he will quickly revenge them." Luke xviii. 
7, 8. Hence we are prepared for what follows. 

V. 5. " And after these things," proceeds St. John, " I looked 
and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in 
heaven was opened. 

V. 6. " And the seven angels came out of the temple 
having the seven plagues, clothed with clean and white linen, 
and girt about the breasts with golden girdles." 

Here the scene changes, and is carried back to the period 
of time that immediately precedes the beginning of the seren 
plagues or punishments. This removal of the scene St. John 
insinuates by the unusual circumlocution, " after these things 
I looked and behold." Then " the temple of the tabernacle of 
the testimony in heaven was opened." St. John sees in heaven 
a tabernacle of testimony, similar in form to the ancient 
Jewish tabernacle; and the temple, that is, the holy of holies, 
or sanctuary of this heavenly tabernacle, had been shut up 
on the conclusion of the above canticles, and in it the Deity 
with the seven angels : but after a short space of time, on the 



48 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

commencement of the new scene, the temple or sanctuary 
opens, and presently come out from the presence of God, the 
seven angels holding the seven plagues, clothed in clea*n and 
white linen, the emblem of the immortal glory they enjoy; 
and girt about the breasts with golden girdles, to show that 
they are vested with the divine authority, and that they are 
actually proceeding to execute the work they are charged 
with. 

V. 7. " And one of the four living creatures gave to the 
seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God who 
liveth for ever and ever. 

V. 8. "And the temple was filled with smoke from the 
Majesty of God, and from his power ; and no man was able 
to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven 
angels were fulfilled." 

Here the seven angels receive seven vials full of the wrath 
of God : upon the pouring out of which, as we shall see, 
follow the seven plagues or divine judgments, upon the 
enemies of religion. The vials are given to the angels by 
one of the four living creatures, that is, by a prophet, because 
at that time the effects of the vials have not happened, but are 
to happen in time to come, and therefore are here announced 
by the way of prophecy. Then the temple in heaven is filled 
with smoke, manifesting first, the Majesty of God residing 
there ; secondly, his power, which he is going to exert in the 
punishment of idolaters and heretics. A similar scene to this 
was formerly seen by the prophet Isaiah : " I saw," says he, 
44 the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated. — And the 
house was filled with smoke." Isai. vi. 1. 4 In the present 
case, such is the overpowering force of the smoke, that no 
man is able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of 
the seven angels be fulfilled; or, no man, soul and body 
together, is able to enter into the temple, the temple of heaven, 
till the seven severe scourges of God imported by the pouring 
out of the seven vials, have been inflicted on the enemies and 
persecutors of his Church. The Almighty by his power 
carries on his Church, through the period of time he thinks 
fit to allot it, and in its progress punisheth its opposers and 
enemies. When that period of time finishes, and the seven 
vials are poured out, and the punishments executed, then fol- 
lows the general judgment; after which, the saints will enter 
soul and body into the temple of heaven. Almighty God is 
patient in his anger, and waits for the conversion of his 
undutiful and rebellious children, but their obstinacy arms at 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 49 

last his justice, and compels him to strike. " The Lord is a 
jealous God," says the prophet, "and a revenger; the Lord is 
a revenger and has wrath: The Lord takes vengeance 
on his adversaries, and he is angry with his enemies." 
Nahum, i. 2. 

Apoc. chap. xvi. 1. "And I heard," continues St. John, 
" a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels : 
Go, and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon 
the earth." 

A great voice is heard from out of the temple or sanctuary, 
as coming from God who resides there: and delivering this 
order to the seven angels who hold the seven vials : " Go 
and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the 
earth." 

Conformably to the remarks we made before the opening 
of the seals, and before the sounding of the trumpets, pp. 32 and 
35, so here, before the pouring out of the vials, appears another 
scene of passing from the Jewish establishment to the Chris- 
tian Church : the Jewish tabernacle with its sanctuary repre- 
sented in heaven, being left by the angels going forth to pour 
out the vials of the wrath of God, w T hich belong to the 
Christian age. 

The pouring out of the first Vial of the wrath of God. 

V. 2. " And the first (Angel) went, and poured out his vial 
upon the earth, and there fell a sore and grievous wound upon 
men, who had the character of the beast, and upon them that 
adored the image thereof." 

Let us begin with observing that as at the sounding of the 
first trumpet the shower of hail, fire, and blood, fell upon the 
earth, that is, on the good part of the earth, or the Christian 
Church, so here the first vial of the wrath of God is likewise 
poured out upon the earth, that is, upon the guilty part of the 
world, or the persecutors of the Christians. The sore and 
grievous wound here inflicted, means a grievous punishment, 
which falls upon those who have the character or mark of the 
beast, that is, on the pagan emperors of Rome and their govern- 
ors of the Roman provinces, as they bore in a special manner 
the mark of the beast or of idolatry, by employing their whole 
power in the support of it, and in persecuting the Christian 
religion. The same punishment also falls upon those who 
adore the image of the beast, that is, on the idolatrous people 
of the Roman empire. The Roman state was the principal 
seat and bulwark of idolatry. Hence the pouring out of the 
5 



60 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

first vial of the wrath of God announces the divine judgment 
on the monarchs of Rome and their subjects, for their support- 
ing idolatry, an abomination so odious to God, and for perse- 
cuting his Church and his people. How this was fulfilled, 
the following short account will discover: 

Nero, the first Roman emperor that imbrued his hands in 
Christian blood, had by his cruelties made himself the detest- 
ation of mankind. The people of Rome would no longer 
bear with him ; his armies revolted from him and set up a new 
emperor. He was deserted by his own guards, and the 
Roman senate pronounced sentence of death against him. 
In this desperate and forlorn condition he fled from Rome 
into the country, to a house belonging to his freedman, where, 
by the help of others, not having resolution himself, he got 
himself despatched with daggers. Thus fell Nero a victim 
to the vengeance of God. 

But heaven was not appeased with this sole victim. The 
weight of divine justice, conformably to the tenor of the vial, 
fell also upon the whole Roman state, which was torn to pieces 
by intestine convulsions. Galba succeeded Nero: but soon after 
rose up Otho, who got himself proclaimed emperor by the 
soldiers. Galba was murdered in the Forum, and the people 
were trampled under foot in the streets of Rome by the brutal 
soldiers. During these troubles in the city, the Roman 
legions in Germany, created their commander Vitellius em- 
peror. This new contest between two competitors could not 
be decided but by the sword, and the blood of many thousands 
of Romans. Four considerable battles were fought within 
the space of a few months, which gave the empire to Vitellius. 
But that same year the Roman armies in the east vested their 
own commander Vespasian with the imperial purple in oppo- 
sition to Vitellius. This continued the civil war, and a battle 
was fought between the two parties at the gates of Rome, in 
which the Vitellians lost the day. Rome was made a scene of 
slaughter, being taken and ravaged by its own subjects, and 
the Capitol was laid in ashes. 

Eight years after this calamity sprung up a fresh one. 
Such a terrible plague infected the city of Rome, that accord- 
ing to Eusebius it swept away ten thousand inhabitants in a 
day for several days together. 

Domitian, the second persecutor, felt also the weight of 
divine anger. His own friends and domestics, with his wife 
Domitia, conspired against him and slew him. And after 
his death the senate of Rome rescinded all his edicts, ordered 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 51 

all his statues to be pulled down, his name to be erased in all 
the public registers, and never more to be mentioned. 

The emperors Trajan, Adrian, and Marcus Aurelius, having 
rather tolerated than raised persecution, escaped such visible 
judgments. But the empire itself felt the dismal effects of 
the Christian blood that had been spilt during these reigns. 
In the eighteenth year of Trajan there happened a prodi- 
gious earthquake, which was almost general in the East, but 
Syria chiefly suffered. Many great towns were ruined. In 
the city of Antioch, where the Emperor Trajan then resided, 
almost all the buildings were thrown down, and many thou- 
sands of people lost their lives; the emperor himself narrowly 
escaping by leaping out of a window. In the second year of 
Marcus Aurelius the Tiber overflowed a considerable part 
of Rome, carried away a multitude of people and cattle, 
ruined the country, and caused an extreme famine. This 
inundation was followed by swarms of insects, which devoured 
all that the flood had spared. Four years after, Lucius Verus 
coming victorious from the Parthian war, brought the plague 
along with him, which communicated the contagion to all the 
Roman provinces through which he passed, and carried off 
multitudes of people. 

Severus, the fifth persecutor, among other misfortunes, had 
for son Antoninus Caracalla, a most vicious prince, who 
attempted to take away his father's life by stabbing him with 
his own hand, but was prevented by some that were present. 
This behaviour of his son threw Severus into a deep melan- 
choly, w T hich put an end to his life. The hand of vengeance 
pursued even his children. Caracalla murdered his brother 
Geta, and he himself underwent the same fate, which extin- 
guished the family. 

Maximinus, the sixth persecutor, became odious to the whole 
empire for his cruelties and his avarice. Africa rebelled 
against him. The senate of Rome declared him an enemy 
to the state, and set up new emperors against him. He was 
so detested, that while he w r as besieging the city of Aquileia, 
his own soldiers fell upon him in his tent, slew both him and 
his son, sent their heads to Rome, and left their bodies to be 
devoured by dogs and birds of prey. 

During the short reign of Maximinus, neither the city of 
Rome nor the provinces were free from wars, tumults, mur- 
ders, and all sorts of calamities. 

Decius the emperor, an execrable beast, as Lactantius styles 
him, in his war with the Goths being attacked by them, and 



52 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

seeing his eldest son killed before his face, and a great part of 
his army cut ofX in despair ran into a deep bog where he 
perished. His body was not allowed common burial, but 
exposed" to be devoured by the beasts of the earth and the 
birds of the air. 

The horrible persecution in this emperor's reign seemed to 
rouse up afresh the indignation of heaven. The Roman state 
was harassed by great wars and desolation from the Goths 
and other barbarous northern nations ; and likewise by a 
dreadful pestilence, which spread itself over all the provinces, 
and lasted ten years, destroying incredible numbers of people. 
In the first year of the Emperor Gallus, Decius's successor, 
who continued the persecution, the plague raged more furi- 
ously than ever, particularly at Carthage in Africa. There 
vast multitudes were swept away every day, and the streets 
were filled with the carcasses of the dead. St. Cyprian, bishop 
of that city, wrote on this occasion his book on the Mortality, 
or Pestilence, to comfort and encourage his own flock under 
the general calamity, and he zealously exhorted them not to 
be wanting in giving all assistance possible to the infected, 
though pagans and their declared enemies. * He also wrote at 
this time to Demetrianus, a magistrate of Carthage, repre- 
senting to him that these evils were not, as the pagans pre- 
tended, punishments' inflicted upon them by their gods for 
their permitting the growth of Christianity ; but on the con- 
trary, that they were real punishments sent from the true God 
of heaven and earth for their cruelties to the Christians. St. 
Cyprian tells him : " Never do we see the Christian name 
persecuted but we see the divine vengeance soon follows. Of 
this we have a recent example, when so quick and so remarka- 
ble a judgment lately appeared in the violent death of the 
kings, (meaningDecius and his son,) in the great devastations 
made by the enemies, and the ruin of the Roman army." 

Valerian, the eighth cruel persecutor of the Christians, in 
his war with the Persians was taken prisoner by Sapor, their 
King, who treated him with the utmost indignity, so far as to 
make him, who had but just before been the greatest monarch 
in the world, to bow down and serve as a footstool to him, the 
king to get on horseback. After keeping him seven years in 
this wretched slavery, Sapor ordered that his eyes should be 
pulled out, then that he should be flayed alive, and his skin 
hung up as a trophy in one of the Persian temples. 

After Valerian's persecution, heaven and earth seemed to 
conspire in the destruction of the Roman empire. Earth- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 53 

quakes overthrew cities, and destroyed great numbers of 
people. The sea overs welled its boundaries, and broke into 
many continents, drowning" countries, cities, and people ; and 
so violent a pestilence raged, that in Rome no less than five 
thousand persons died in a day. Besides this, the whole em- 
pire was invaded on all sides. A body of Germans crossed 
the Alps and broke into Italy. Another body of the same 
enemies wasted Gaul and entered Spain. The Goths and 
Scythians ravaged Pontus and great part of lesser Asia; 
and in Europe, ail Greece, Macedon, and their confines. The 
Quadi and Sarmatians seized on Dacia and Pannonia ; and 
the Persians and Parthians took possession of Mesopotamia 
and a great part of Syria. To complete these disasters, there 
rose up thirty tyrants, who, assuming the title of emperors, set 
up in opposition to one another and to the reigning emperor 
Gallienus, which occasioned the empire to be more harassed 
and oppressed by its own intestine broils than by foreign 
devastations. These disasters had been foretold in the time of 
the persecution by the holy Martyr, St. Marian, when he was 
carried to execution. He announced them as a scourge im- 
pending on the state for the innocent blood that was spilt of 
the Christians. 

The Emperor Aurelian, another persecutor, was assassina- 
ted by his own secretary and some others, who had formed a 
conspiracy against him. 

Dioclesian, the tenth persecutor, was compelled by Galerius, 
whom he had created Caesar, to resign to him the empire, 
and retire himself to a private life. Afterwards he had the 
mortification to learn, that Constantine, who was become 
emperor, had pulled down his statues. His wife and daugh- 
ter were also put to death by Licinius. These disgraces, and 
the load of guilt that hung upon him, operated so strongly on 
his mind, that he could neither eat nor sleep. He sighed and 
groaned continually, often with tears in his eyes, sometimes 
tumbling himself on his bed, and sometimes on the g ound. 
Thus he who governed the world for twenty years, as Lactan- 
tius observes, was reduced to so miserable a condition, that 
he finished his life by hunger and grief. This happened in 
the year 312. 

Maximian, Dioclesian's colleague in the empire and in the 
persecution, had been also obliged to abdicate. He made 
several attempts to resume the purple, but seeing them all 
defeated, he hanged himself. 

The succeeding emperors, Galerius, Maxentius, Maximinua 
§* 



54 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Daia, and Licinius, endeavouring to carry on the persecution 
begun by Dioclesian and Maximian, met also with their due 
punishment. And first, 

The hand of God was very visible upon the abominable 
Galerius, who had taken so much pains to instigate Diocle- 
sian against the Christians. He was struck with a dreadful 
disease. An ulcer consumed the lower parts of his belly, 
and laid open his very bowels. He was devoured by vermin, 
and the whole mass of his body putrified. The stench that 
came from him was intolerable. His pains were so violent, 
that he roared out, and often attempted to kill himself. In 
these agonies he seemed to acknowledge the hand that lay 
over him, and m order to avert it, he published an edict in 
favour of the Christians. But heaven did not relent : and his 
distemper increasing, in a few days put a period to his life. 

Maxentius was routed in a battle he fought with Constan- 
tine on the banks of the Tyber. As he was crossing that 
river in his flight, the bridge gave way with the weight of 
the crowd, and he was drowned. 

Maximinus Daia being upon the point of engaging in bat- 
tle with Licinius, made a vow to Jupiter, that if he got the 
victory, he would extinguish the very name of Christian. 
His army was totally defeated by a much lesser number: 
upon which he threw away his imperial robe, and fled in the 
habit of a slave. He made different efforts to retrieve him- 
self, but not succeeding, he resolved to make away with 
himself. For that purpose he eat and drank to great excess, 
but this not effecting it, he took poison, which burnt him 
within, and threw him into such a phrenzy that he eat com- 
mon earth. His pains became so intolerable, that he ran his 
head against the wall w T ith such violence that his eyes started 
out. In the end he acknowledged the justice of his punish- 
ment for his cruelty to the Christians, and in the most exquisite 
torments he breathed out his last. 

We learn from Lactantius, that not only the forementioned 
persecutors were all crushed by a superior power, but that 
their whole race was also cut off The same fate, in like 
manner, attended many of the governors, of the Roman pro- 
vinces, who had so willingly concurred in executing the cruel 
and bloody statutes of the emperors for the extirpation of 
Christianity. The provinces of the east, where Maximinus 
commanded, had also shared in the disasters that usually 
followed persecution. A dreadful famine and plague had 
spread through them a universal desolation. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 55 

At the death of Maximinus Daia in 313, Licinius remain- 
ed master in the east. Constantine, who had reigned for some 
years as emperor in the west, being a Christian, or disposing 
himself to be so, prevailed upon Licinius to join with him in 
publishing an edict, which superseded all persecution, and 
granted full liberty and peace to Christians. This happy 
time lasted till the year 319, when Licinius altering his con- 
duct, commenced a new persecution, and in 323 renewed the 
war he had before waged with Constantine. Licinius was 
vanquished both by sea and land, and upon his submission 
was allowed to retire to Thessalonica ; but as he still medita- 
ted new disturbance, he was put to death by Constantine 5 s 
orders in the year 324. 

Thus then at last a period was put to the troubles of 
the Christians. Religion triumphed over every obstruction, 
which the idolatrous powers had opposed to it. The Chris- 
tian Constantine reigned sole emperor: and here is dated the 
remarkable epocha of the peace and triumph of the Church 
of Christ. 

What has been said seems to show sufficiently the accom- 
plishment of the text under consideration, that is, the severe 
judgments that fell upon the Roman emperors and the people 
of the empire, for their supporting idolatry, and persecuting 
the true worship of God. However, the hand of God did 
not stop here, nor was it satisfied with the slaughter of the 
great victims we have seen, nor with the large measure of 
calamities we have described. We shall see in the sequel the 
most astonishing stroke, by which the divine vengeance was 
at last completed. This was the subversion of the great 
Roman empire, and total destruction of Pagan Rome itself. 

Notwithstanding the preceding explanation of the text, we 
shall beg leave, in order to elucidate it the more, to add some- 
thing further, particularly the cessation of the pagan oracles, 
which chiefly happened in this first age. Christ came into the 
world not only to subdue all earthly powers by bringing them 
under the yoke of his doctrine, but also to conquer the devil, 
and to break down the dominion he had usurped over man- 
kind. This we learn from our Saviour himself, who said: 
" Now is the judgmeut of the world ; now shall the prince of 
this world, the devil, be cast out." John xii. 31. It is well 
known that the devil had long deluded mankind by the ora- 
cles which he pretended to deliver by the mouths of the idols, 
or their priests. Many of the answers thus pronounced as 
oracles, were undoubtedly mere inventions of the pagan 



56 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

priests themselves who by such artifices imposed upon the 
ignorant. But the holy fathers and ancient ecclesiastical wri- 
ters agree, that the demons themselves often spoke through the 
idols, and uttered predictions, which, whether true or false, 
could always, on account of their obscurity and ambiguity, be 
interpreted conformable to the events. All these oracular 
powers, even the most celebrated, were observed to decline 
after our Saviour's coming into the world and the preaching 
of the gospel, and by degrees entirely ceased giving any 
more answers. Thus speaks the historian Eusebius, who 
flourished in the reign of Constantine the Great : " A great 
proof of the imbecility of the demons is, that their oracles are 
extinct, and give no more answers as formerly, and that this 
happened about the time of the coming of our Saviour; for as 
soon as his doctrine was preached throughout the world, the 
oracles then ceased." Dem. Evang. lib. 5. The pagan wri- 
ters themselves universally complain, that their gods had 
forsaken their temples, and that their votaries did in vain 
solicit their counsels. Julian the apostate owns, u that the 
gods now a days seldom inspire any of their ministers, nor can 
any one scarce obtain that inspiration ; but oracles, like other 
things, seem to alter with the revolution of times." Apud 
S. Cyrill. lib. 6. contra Julian. Even the most celebrated 
oracle of Apollo at Delphos, some time before our Saviour's 
birth, had lost much of its credit, and after his appearance it 
entirely sunk away. Thus speaks Juvenal of it at the begin- 
ning of the second century, Sat. 6. 



-Delphis oracula cessant. 



Now the Delphian oracles are dumb. 

Drvden's Transl. 

Thus also wrote the poet Lucan, a little after the middle of 
the first century, lib. 5. 

-Non ullo saecula dono 



Nostra carent majore Deum, quam Delphica sedes quod filuit. 
Of all the wants with which this age is curst, 
The Delphic silence surely is the worst. 

Rowe's Transl. 

Plutarch wrote an express treatise to account for the silence 
of oracles. He employs arguments founded on natural, mo- 
ral, and political causes, but all his philosophy proved insuf- 
ficient to give a satisfactory reason. That this silence was 
solely owing to the dominion of Christ, and the establishment 
of his religion, is avowed even by some of the pagans them- 
selves. Porphyry, an inveterate enemy to Christianity, who 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 5? 

lived towards the end of the third century, says : " It is no 
wonder if the city for so many years has been aflicted with 
sickness, iEsculapius, and the rest of the gods, having with- 
drawn their former commerce with mankind ; for since Jesus 
has begun to be worshipped, no one has received any public 
help from the gods." Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. 5. On this 
subject see also Cave and others. The holy fathers are una- 
nimous in their opinion, that the superior power of the Chris- 
tian religion imposed silence on the devil, shut up the mouths 
of his priests and priestesses, and greatly abridged his in- 
fluence in seducing mankind. Visible examples are not want- 
ing in confirmation of this truth. St. Gregory of Nyssa re- 
lates, that St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, having entered a hea- 
thenish temple famous for oracles, purified it by the sign of the 
cross and prayer, and compelled the demon that resided there 
to leave the place. This the demon himself confessed to his 
votaries. We also learn from St. Chrysostom, Theodoret, So- 
zomen, and others, that at Dunhue, in the neighbourhood of 
Antioch, there was a temple dedicated to Apollo, much cele- 
brated for its oracles ; but that the body of the holy martyr, 
St. Babylas, being brought and laid in a church near the place, 
Apollo was instantly struck dumb. Thus was the devil com- 
pelled to yield to a force he had not felt before. It was cer- 
tainly fit, that, when the Son of God, appeared on the earth, 
then Satan should be obliged to withdraw, and his impostures 
give place to the light of truth. 

But it ought to be here observed, that this silencing of Sa- 
tan was only a small part of the victory which Christ claimed 
over him. The whole system of idolatry, which that enemy 
of God had introduced into the world, was now by the propa- 
gation of the Christian faith shaken to the very foundation, 
and in a little time tumbled wholly to pieces. It was what the 
Almighty had long before anuounced by his prophets. Thus 
speaks Isaias : u In that day the Lord shall be exalted alone, 
and the idols shall be utterly destroyed." Isai. ii. 17, 18. 
41 The Lord shall consume all the gods of the earth," says 
another prophet, Sophon. ii. 11. In proportion as the Chris- 
tian religion was made known, the absurdity and impiety of 
idolatrous worship became manifest, the idols were thrown 
down, the fictitious deities they represented were scoffed at and 
ridiculed, and their ministers treated with the utmost contempt. 
In the same measure that He, who is the " Light of the world," 
spread his influence, with the same speed the "Spirit of dark- 
ness" fled away, and retired into obscurity. 



58 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 

By degrees the devil's power was so weakened, that the 
meanest Christian could by a word expel him from those 
miserable creatures he tyrannically possessed, and force him to 
acknowledge with confusion, that he was a rebel angel, an 
enemy to God. This practice is fully attested by St. Justin, 
St. Irenaeus, Tcrtullian, St. Cyprian, and all the primitive fa- 
thers, and was common in the three first centuries of the 
church. Nor was this power of the Christians over the devil 
to be wondered at, as it was founded on Christ, who had given 
his word for it. " These signs," says he, " shall follow them 
that believe : In my name they shall cast out devils." Mark 
xvi. 17. 

Facts similar to those above related are seen at this day in 
the idolatrous nations of the East Indies, where the devil has 
maintained for a long time a settled worship and dominion. It 
is common there to see persons possessed, which he manages 
according to his will, and through their mouths delivers his 
oracles, and answers the questions put to him by his votaries. 
It is indeed no matter of surprise that the devil enjoys so 
much power in places where he is personally worshipped. 
But at the same time there is seen the same virtue and efficacy 
residing in the Christian and Catholic religion, as in the pri- 
mitive ages. The persons possessed are delivered from the 
evil spirit by the prayers or command of the Christians, and 
his influence is observed to decline as the gospel gains ground. 
These facts are certified by unquestionable testimonies of the 
Catholic missionaries residing in those countries, who are 
daily eye-witnesses of them. See Lettres Curieuses et Edi- 
fiantes. 



CHAPTER III. 

A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN 

CHURCH. 

The first seal, trumpet, and vial, have exhibited a general 
descriptions of the first preaching of the Christian religion, the 
persecution that attended it, and the divine vengeance on the 
authors of these persecutions. But as the history of the 
church is highly interesting during this first age, or first three 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 59 

centuries, in which it took its birth and obtained its establish- 
ment, Christ is pleased to disclose to us, in chap. xii. of the 
Apocalypse, more circumstances belonging to this period, and 
unfolds the origin of all obstructions put to the propagation 
of the Christian religion, the agents employed for that pur- 
pose with the progress of their machinations and efforts for 
the support of idolatry, and for suppressing the worship of 
God and Christ. 

Apoc. chap. xii. 1. " And a great sign appeared in heaven : 
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, 
and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 

V. 2. " And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, 
and was in pain to be delivered." 

Here is a " great sign" or a noble figurative representation 
of the Christian Church. She appears " in heaven," as draw- 
ing her origin from heaven, by her Author, the son of God: 
and she is represented under the form of a " woman, clothed 
with the sun, moon and stars," the most splendid raiment the 
whole compass of nature can furnish. She is clothed with the 
sun, as shining with the brightness of her sanctity, and with 
the glory of her spouse, Jesus Christ, who is the " Sun of 
Justice." Mai. iv. 2 She holds the " moon under her feet," 
as victorious over all sublunary beings, over all earthly powers, 
and worldly charms. She bears on her head " a crown of 
twelve stars," denoting the twelve apostles, who, after Christ 
her " Sun," make her principal ornament. She appears in 
labour, and suffering the excruciating pangs of child-bed in 
her first bringing forth children to Christ : such are the strug- 
gles, and such are the difficulties, that obstruct the birth of 
Christianity, or the first propagation of the Christian faith. 
On one side human laws, human passions, the general depra- 
vity of mankind, the pleasures of life : on the other side, the 
Jews, the Pagans, all conspire to fight against her. But par- 
ticularly : 

V. 3. " And there was seen another sign in heaven : and 
behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, 
and on his head seven diadems. 

V. 4. " Andiiis tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 
and cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood before the 
woman who was ready to be delivered ; that when she should 
be delivered, he might devour her son." 

Here the woman, or the Christian Church, sees her chief 
enemy, the great red or cruel dragon, which is the arch-devil 
Satan, as St. John explains it below, verse 9th ; and it appears 



60 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

in heaven, or the upper region, because Satan draws his origin 
from above, having been formerly a bright angel. This great 
dragon has seven heads, and upon each a diadem or crown, 
the types of seven emperors of pagan Rome, whom Satan 
actuates and employs as his chief agents to oppose the rise of 
the Christian religion, and to maintain his own idolatrous 
worship. That such is the meaning of the heads, we learn 
from the explication given by the angel, chap. xvii. 9, of the 
Apocalypse : " The seven heads," says the angel, "are seven 
mountains — And they are seven kings." Ancient Rome be- 
ing here clearly indicated as it was built on seven mountains. 
The seven kings or emperors here pointed at seem to be, Nero, 
Domitian, Severus, Decius, Valerian, Dioclesian, and Anti- 
christ, as being the principal and distinguished persecutors of 
the Christian Church. The dragon had also ten horns deno- 
ting ten provinces, into which the whole Roman empire is 
here divided. The horns therefore being animated by the dra- 
gon as well as the heads, the governors of the Roman pro- 
vinces, and the people, will be also instigated by the devil to 
persecute the Church of Christ. 

It was said that the dragon with his tail drew the third part 
of the stars of heaven, that is, the apostate angels whom he 
had seduced, and he cast them to the earth, to be there em- 
ployed in seducing mankind. But the greatest part of them 
were precipitated down into the infernal dungeons, according 
to that of St. Jude : " The angels who kept not their princi- 
pality, but forsook their own habitation, he hath reserved 
under darkness in everlasting chains unto the judgment of 
the great day." Ep. v. 6. The dragon himself stood before the 
woman who was ready to be delierved: that when sheshould 
be delivered, he might devour her son. Satan seeing his em- 
pire of idolatry in danger of being dissolved by the publica- 
tion of the Christian religion, resolves to crush this in its ori- 
gin, by stirring up the whole Roman power against it, and 
thus to devour the woman's offspring in its birth. 

V. 5. "And she, the woman, brought forth a man-child, 
who was to rule all nations with an iron rod : and her son 
was taken up to God, and to his throne." The woman brings 
forth a man-child, that is, a masculine race of Christians, a 
progeny of holy champions, who in conjunction with Christ 
their head, are to rule all nations with an iron rod by a par- 
ticipation of his power, which he has promised them after the 
victory in their conflicts with the dragon. " He that shall 
overcome, says Christ, and keep my works unto the end, I 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 61 

will give him power over the nations, and shall rule them 
with a rod of iron." Apoc. ii. 26, 27. For such is the power 
he himself exercises over the impious part of mankind, as 
St. John tells us. " He shall rule the nations with a rod of 
iron." Apoc. xix. 15. which had been attributed to him even 
long before. " Thou shalt rule them, (the nations) with a rod 
of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 
Psal. ii. 9. The Almighty Son of God breaks down empires, 
dissolves states, strikes princes, destroys people that pre- 
sume to contend with him. And " her son was taken up to 
God, and to his throne ;" part of the woman's offspring, or a 
considerable number of the Christians, when put to the trial 
in the persecutions, generously laid down their lives for Christ 
their Lord and master, and thus triumphing over the dragon, 
instead of falling a prey to him, are carried up to heaven to 
God and to his throne, where they are associated with him in 
power and judgment, according to what w r e have just above 
seen, and according to this other promise . M To him that shall 
overcome," says Christ, " I will give to sit with me in my 
throne ; as I also have overcome, and am set down with my 
Father in his throne." Apoc. iii. 21. 

V. 6. " And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she 
had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her 
a thousand two hundred and sixty days." 

During the cruel persecutions, which the devil stirred 
up against the woman, or the Christian Church, by his in- 
struments the heathen Roman emperors and magistrates, 
many of the Christians fled for shelter into the deserts, to in- 
accessible mountains, and other lurking places, as we learn 
from the holy fathers and historians of those times. Great 
multitudes in particular sought for refuge in the catacombs, 
at Rome, and in many other places. These subterraneous 
caverns, termed catacombs, are so prodigiously extensive, 
branching out into innumerable streets which stretch to a 
great distance, especially at Rome, that they may be properly 
called a city under ground. The Christians lay concealed in 
these dark and dismal retreats, which though originally made 
for other purposes, were a place prepared by God, were de- 
signed by him for a place of reception to his persecuted ser- 
vants. In these various desolate abodes the Christians, though 
in appearance destitute of all human succour, were neverthe- 
less fed and supported by a special divine providence for the 
cpace of a thousand two hundred and sixty days, or three years 
and a half, which was the utmost duration of any of the Ro- 
6 



62 HISTORY O* THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

man persecutions ; some of which did not fill that period, none 
exceeded it. 

V. 7. " And there was a great battle in heaven : Michael 
and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought 
and his angels : 

V. 8. " And they prevailed not, neither was their place 
found any more in heaven. 

V. 9. " And that great dragon was cast out, that old ser- 
pent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the 
whole world : and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels 
were thrown down with him." 

The dragon, or Satan, had with unrelenting malice stimu- 
lated the whole Roman power against the Christians by suc- 
cessive dreadful persecutions, as we have seen ; but still he 
saw all his efforts baffled. Notwithstanding the immense 
slaughter that had been made, he found he could not extirpate 
the woman's offspring, it was so powerfully protected, and 
supported by the divine hand : and he furthermore saw with 
deep regret, and to his confusion, that the blood of the mar- 
tyrs became the seed of the new Christians, and increased 
their number. The infernal spirit determines therefore to try 
another expedient ; in pursuance of which he presumes to 
address the Almighty, challenging him to withdraw his hand 
and suspend the extraordinary helps by which he supported 
his people, and then it would soon appear that the Christians 
had no real zeal or fortitude, but would soon abandon their 
God and the interests of religion. Such are his malicious 
insinuations, to get the Christians wholly into his power. 
The same kind of artifice the malicious spirit had formerly 
practised against the holy man, Job. Thus Satan accused 
him before God: " Doth Job fear God in vain? Hast thou 
not made a fence for him and his house, and all his substance 
round about, and blessed the work of his hands, and his pos- 
session hath increased on the earth?" Job i. 9, 10. 

After thus enumerating God's blessings upon Job, the evil 
spirit thus pursues : " But stretch forth thy hand a little, and 
touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy 
face," as above, ver. 1 1 ; that is suspend thy favours, and with- 
draw all that thou hast given him, and see then if he does not 
fly in thy face. But to return to our own subject : The Almighty 
refusing to grant Satan his present request, and not being 
willing to suffer him any more to approach his throne with 
accusations against his people, orders the archangel, Michael, 
the protector of the Christian Church, to banish Satan utterly 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 63 

from the heavenly regions : upon which a fierce battle ensues 
between St. Michael, assisted by an army of angels, and Satan 
with his associates. These latter are worsted, and cast down 
to the earth. Upon which, 

V. 10. " And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: 
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of om 
God, and the power of his Christ ; because the accuser of our 
brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day 
and night." 

Upon the victory of St. Michael over Satan there follows 
joy and acclamation of the Christian saints in heaven, say- 
ing: " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom 
of our God. and the power of his Christ," &c. : now the Al- 
mighty has displayed his power, has assumed victory and 
dominion, and has ascertained the reign of Jesus, his Christ : 
for now we see Satan foiled, and no more permitted to appear 
before the throne of God with accusations against our brethren 
on earth, as he was wonted to do. 

V. 11. " And they overcame him by the blood of the 
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not 
their lives unto death. 

V. 12. u Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell 
therein." 

The saints in heaven thus continue their exultation, for the 
fortitude and constancy of their brethren, who by virtue of the 
blood of the Lamb, that is, by virtue of the plentiful graces 
purchased for them by the blood of the Lamb, had gene- 
rously bore testimony to, and laid down their lives for, that 
faith which Satan endeavoured to extirpate, and thus had 
overcome him. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, for these new 
illustrious inhabitants, and rejoice you that dwell therein, for 
your new happy associates. Thus is celebrated the double 
victory; that of St. Michael, and that of the Martyrs, over the 
devil. But on the other hand, 

V. 12. " Wo to the earth and to the sea, because the devil 
is corne down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he 
hath but a short time." 

A terrifying alarm is here proclaimed to the earth and sea, 
that is, to the Christians wherever they be, because the devil, 
now utterly expelled from heaven, is come down in great 
wrath, to exercise anew his fury against them. The Almighty 
had rejected the fiend's malicious suggestion of withdrawing 
his powerful graces and protection from his people, but by an 
unsearchable determination of his infinite wisdom, permits 



64 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Satan to raise a fresh persecution, much more terrible than 
any before. This is the persecution of the Emperor Diocle- 
sian ; in which, as it was to be the last, the dragon poured out 
his utmost -venom and rage, as knowing that he had but a 
short time left him. 

V. 13. " And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto 
the earth, he persecuted the woman, who brought forth the 
man-child." 

And no sooner did this persecution begin to break out, but, 

V. 1 4. " And there were given to the woman two wings of 
a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her 
place ; where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half 
a time, from the face of the serpent." 

Here the woman, or the general body of the Christians, 
seeing the storm rising, betake themselves again to their for- 
mer retreats in the deserts, the catacombs, and other lurking 
places. And as the violence of this exceeded that of all pre- 
ceding persecutions, so is the woman furnished with two 
wings of a great eagle to enable her to fly with more strength 
and swiftness, that is, she is favoured in her flight with a more 
special protection and assistance from God : in a similar 
manner to what the Israelites experienced, when the Almighty 
saved them from the fury of the Egyptians: " You have 
seen," said God to his people, " what I have done to the 
Egyptians : how I have carried you on the wings of eagles 
and have taken you to myself." Exod. xix. 4. But further 
more, Divine Providence fails not to nourish or provide with 
spiritual and corporal food the Christians in their desolate 
abodes, where they are obliged to remain for a time, and 
times, and half a time, that is a year, two years, and half a 
year, or three years and a half; the utmost period of any one 
part of this persecution, which indeed in the whole lasted ten 
years, from 303 to 313, but with some interruptions. 

V. 15. " And the serpent cast out of his mouth, after the 
woman, water, as it were a river ; that he might cause her to 
be carried away by the river." 

And now the serpent or devil, in his full rage against the 
woman, or Christian Church, resolves to overwhelm her, if 
possible. For that purpose he casts out of his mouth after her a 
flood or river of water ; he raises a more cruel and bloody per- 
secution, than had ever been known, through the whole Roman 
empire, actuating the emperors and governors of the provinces 
with the most implacable rancour and most savage fury against 
the Christians, who for ten years together had little respite 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 65 

The persecuting emperors were, Dioclesian, Galerius, Maxi- 
mian, Maxentius, and Maximinus Daia, some of whom reigned 
at the same time in different parts of the empire. Dioclesian 
and Galerius, began the persecution in the eastern part of the 
empire in 303. It was continued for three years and a half; 
while Maximian carried on the same bloody work in the west. 
M At this time the whole earth was harassed and tormented," 
says Lactantius, " and three most cruel beasts" (namely, 
Dioclesian, Galerius, and Maximian) "raged every where 
from east to west, exoept in Gaul," where Constantius Chlorus 
governed and checked very much the violence of the perse- 
cution. The Christians were diligently sought for; some 
were discovered and dragged from their lurking places ; and 
the cruelties and barbarities exercised in this persecution ex- 
ceeded all description " If I had a hundred tongues," says 
again Lactantius, " and a hundred mouths, I should not be 
able to recount all the different torments that were employed 
against the Christians." De mort. Pers. c. 16. After some 
respite, the persecution was renewed in Italy by Maxentius in 
308 ; and it raged most violently in the east under the orders 
of the Emperor Maximinus Daia, the most sanguinary tyrant, 
as St. Jerome styles him, that ever persecuted the Church. 
His inhumanity and barbarity in torturing the martyrs sur- 
passed every thing that had been practised before. This 
bloody scene lasted also about three years and a half; and 
after a short interval of rest, the same implacable tyrant 
revived it in 312, but the next year he himself miserably 
perished. 

This was a long and severe trial, which it pleased Al- 
mighty God in his wisdom to subject his people to; but he 
had fixed the bounds of it, and now he sends an unexpected 
relief. 

V. 16. "And the earth helped the woman, says St. John, 
and the earth opened her mouth; and swallowed up the river, 
which the dragon cast out of his mouth." 

The woman was helped by the earth, that is, by a prince of 
the earth, Constantine the Great, who came to her succour, 
and became the first Christian Emperor of Rome. Upon the 
demise of his father Constantius Chlorus, who died in Great 
Britain, Constantine was there proclaimed emperor in 306. 
His first care was, though not yet a Christian, to prohibit all 
persecution in the western provinces which were under his 
dominion. He even wrote to his colleagues, the other empe- 
rors, advising the same, upon which they suspended their 



66 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

persecution but soon renewed it. Constantine marched against 
the tyrant Maxentius, who had declared war against him : 
but before the encounter, by a special revelation he erected 
the standard of the Cross at the head of his army, making it 
his chief ensign. For he saw in the sky a cross of light 
with this inscription : " In this shalt thou conquer." And 
effectually under its auspices he defeated the tyrant in the 
neighbourhood of Rome in the year 312. Maxentius in his 
flight being drowned in the Tyber, Constantine entered Rome 
in triumph, and was declared by the senate the first of the 
emperors. The consequence of this victory was the restora- 
tion of peace to the Christians throughout the whole western 
Roman empire. Maximinus in the east, after being van- 
quished by Licinius, having put an end to his own life in 313, 
there remained but two emperors, Constantine who governed 
in the west, and Licinius in the east. They both concurred, 
though Licinius was a pagan, to publish an edict, that sup- 
pressed all persecution in the eastern empire, and granted full 
liberty to the Christian religion. Thus at last, by human 
help, under the divine concurrence and direction, the sunshine 
of peace was restored to the Church throughout the whole 
extent of the Roman dominions. And thus it appears how 
" the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river, 
which the dragon cast out of his mouth." 

V. 17. "And the dragon was angry against the woman: 
and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the 
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus 
Christ." 

No^wonder the dragon, or devil, was angry against the 
woman, seeing that, instead of his destroying her, she had 
defeated him ; and that she was now entirely rescued from 
nis power, and under the protection of a prince, upon whom 
he could have no influence. He was further enraged, to see 
his own power crushed, his reign of idolatry expiring, his 
agents, the heathen Roman princes exterminated, and now 
Christianity established through the whole empire, that is, 
through the greater part of the then known world. He had 
with infinite regret seen himself driven by Constantine from 
the western boundaries of the empire to its utmost limits in 
the east. Satan thus overcome, but still swelling with rage 
and malice against the woman, leaves the Roman dominions, 
and flies into the kingdom of Persia, there to continue his 
hellish work in making war with the rest of the woman's 
seed, the servants of God, who keep his commandments, and 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 67 

bear testimony to Jesus Christ. There he finds new instru- 
ments fit for his purpose, the barbarous heathen kings of that 
country, whom he soon excites with fury against the woman's 
seed. 

A most horrible persecution was set on foot by the cruel 
tyrant, Sapor II., which raged during forty years without 
intermission, from the year 340 to his death in 380. St. Ma- 
ruthas, bishop of Tagrit in Mesopotamia, near the borders of 
Persia, compiled the acts of many of the martyrs who suffered 
in this persecution ; and the historian Sozomen, speaking of 
them, says : " It would be difficult to give an exact account ot 
them, to specify their names, their countries, their torments, 
and the new invented cruelties exercised upon them . I shall 
only say, it is assured that sixteen thousand men and women 
suffered, whose names were known, and so many others, that 
their number could not be ascertained." Lib- ii. 14. Forty 
years after, viz. in 420, the persecution was recommenced by 
king Isdegerdes, and continued under his successors for thir- 
ty years. The brutal inhumanity used in torturing the mar- 
tyrs at this time, is thus described by the historian Theodo- 
ret : " Some had the skin torn off their hands, others off their 
backs, and others from their forehead down to the chin. Some 
had split reeds tied round them very fast, which being plucked 
away with violence brought the skin along with them, and 
occasioned exquisite torment. Sometimes the persecutors dug 
holes in the earth, which they stored with rats and mice, then 
shut up the Christians in them after tying their hands and 
feet, and left them to be devoured by the vermin. The ene- 
my of God and man suggested to them several other more 
barbarous kinds of torture which they employed upon the 
holy men, but none could shake their constancy." Lib. v. 
c. 39. 

Chosroes II. king of Persia, was also a bitter enemy to 
Christianity. When his army took and plundered Jerusa- 
lem in the year 614, many thousands of clerks, monks, nuns, 
and virgins, were cruelly massacred, ninety thousands Chris- 
tians * ere sold for slaves to the Jews, and afterwards many 
of them were tortured and slain. In the beginning of the 
year 628, the king ordered sixty-nine Christians to be stran- 
gled in one day. But this idolatrous king and tyrant was 
defeated in several battles by Heraclius, emperor of Constan- 
tinople, to whom he had before refused peace, unless the em- 
peror would renounce Jesus Christ, and adore the sun. Chos- 
roes was afterwards put to death in 628 by his own son Siroes, 



68 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

who stopped all persecution, and made peace with Heraclius ; 
and within the space of a few years Persia was conquered by 
the Saracens. 

The machinations of Satan, the indefatigable supporter of 
idolatry against the Christian Church of Persia were now 
quashed, and no room was there left for further attempts by 
the means of idolatrous princes. Resolving therefore to leave 
that country, Satan steps to the confines of it. 

V. 18. " And he stood upon the sand of the sea."* He 
stops upon the shore of the Persian sea, probably meditating 
a flight into some new country, where he may still prosecute 
his implacable hatred against the woman's seed. But behold, 

Apoc. chap. xx. 1. " And I saw," says St. John, "an 
angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bot- 
tomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. 

V. 2. " And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, 
which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand 
years. 

V. 3. " And he cast him into the bottomless ?it, and shut 
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he shuold no more se- 
duce the nations, till the thousand years be finished. And 
after that he must be loosed for a time." 

An angel descends from heaven, who seizes the dragon, 
or Satan, upon the sea shore where he stood, binds him with 
a chain, casts him into the abyss or bottomless pit of hell, and 
shuts him up there for a thousand years; not precisely for 
that number of years, but for the whole period of his confine- 
ment, here expressed in the round number of a thousand 
years : which confinement is to last to the time of Antichrist, 
in the latter days of the world, when Satan will again be let 
loose for a little time. 

Here then the Almighty is pleased to put a stop to Satan'.* 
power. This happened in the seventh century. His rei^n 
had been of long duration, and infinite mischief he had done. 
He is the dragon that drew down with him the third part of 
the stars of heaven, or was the chief of the angels that fell, 
and is their prince in the infernal kingdom. He is here also 
styled the old serpent, as being the same that seduced Eve in 
Paradise, and consequently a murderer from the beginning. 
This inveterate enemy of God and man seduces the whole 
world, and had done it, by withdrawing the greatest part of 

♦In the common Greek text, "And I stood," &c. but the reading of the 
Vulgate is confirmed by the Alexandrian manuscript, by the Synac and 
Arabic versions, by Tichonius, and the edition of Aldas. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 69 

mankind from their obedience and duty to God, and bringing" 
them over 10 himself, by setting up the banner of idolatry. 
This abominable worship of the devil had subsisted a long 
time, but was at last to be suppressed by Him who came to 
enlighten the world, and' said : " Now shall the prince of this 
world, Satan, be cast out." John xii. 31. At the rise there- 
fore of Christianity, Satan perceiving his kingdom shaken, 
set all engines to work for the support of idolatry, and to stop 
the progress of the gospel : and in this attempt he caused to 
be spilt an ocean of Christian blood. He had been suffered 
to proceed so far ; but now the term decreed by the Almighty 
is come, and Satan is chained up in prison. From the time 
of his confinement, idolatry, of which he is the parent and 
chief supporter, fell, and the Church was freed from those ex- 
treme severities of persecution it felt before, and experienced 
less opposition in extending its faith and doctrine. This may 
be seen in the history of the church. From the time even 
that Satan was forced to retreat from the Roman empire into 
Persia, the Christian religion made rapid progress in all the 
provinces of that empire, and stretched gradually into many 
countries beyond them ; till at last its growth became stupen- 
dous, and the church shone, like a bright sun, over the most 
part of the known world. 

Let it be here also observed, that, notwithstanding the im- 
prisonment of Satan, prince of the bad angels, we must not 
conclude that all the devil's power was then superseded. 
Many of his chief subjects were probably shut up with him, 
but many also, though of inferior power, were permitted to re- 
main on earth to tempt mankind and to exercise their virtue. 
St. John proceeds, 

V. 4. " And I saw seats : and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them, and the souls of them that 
were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of 
God, and who had not adored the beast, nor his image, nor 
received his character on their foreheads, or in their hands, 
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

V. 5. " The rest of the dead lived not,* till the thousand 
years were finished. This is the first resurrection." 

St. John sees seats given to the souls of those who had 
been beheaded or suffered martyrdom for the testimony they 
had given to Jesus and to his holy religion, and for the word 
of God, or for the observance of the law of God. Seats are 
also given to those, who had not adored the beast, nor his 

♦ In the Greek text, " revived not," 



70 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

image, that is, who had not given into idolatry or heresy, see 
page 46 : likewise to those, who had not received the beast's 
character on their foreheads or in their hands, that is, who 
did not bear any particular mark or office appertaining to 
idolaters or heretics, nor used any contrivance to make them- 
selves pass for such. For it must be observed that, in the 
heat of persecution, many Christians, to shelter themselves, 
would basely buy from the heathen magistrates certificates of 
their having sacrificed to idols, when they had not done it ; 
others would eat of the meats that had been offered to idols ; 
others delivered up the holy scriptures, &c. St. John sees 
the souls of all the above-mentioned faithful and courageous 
Christians seated in dignity, and allowed power of judging ; 
which means that they sit as judges with Christ by a partici- 
pation of his power, which he graciously communicates to 
them, according to his promise : " To him that shall over- 
come, I will give to sit with me in my throne," Apoc. iii. 21. 
And they lived and reigned w r ith Christ a thousand years, 
that is, their souls immediately on leaving their bodies were 
admitted to heavenly bliss, and reign with Christ for a thou- 
sand years, or for that period of time which is counted from 
their departure out of this world to the general judgment, 
when their bodies will be reunited to them. And this admis- 
sion of their souls into glory without their bodies is called 
the first resurrection. But the souls of the others, who were 
guilty of any of the above-named crimes, lived not the life of 
the before-mentioned happy souls, but were condemned to 
hell -flames which is the first death. Nor will they revive or 
recover life till the thousand years be finished at the general 
resurrection, when they will indeed be drawn for a moment 
out of the infernal pit and be reunited to their bodies, but to be 
replunged together into eternal damnation, which is the second 
death. In like manner, when at the last day the bodies of 
the just are made partners with their souls in bliss, that may 
be termed the second resurrection. We see here inculcated 
that known maxim of the Christian religion ; that the souls 
of the just who die in the Lord, enter into heavenly glory, 
though their bodies do not participate of it till after the gene- 
ral resurrection : and the same holds with regard to the pu- 
nishment of the souls of the wicked. 

V. 6. " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
resurrection. In these, the second death hath no power : but 
they shall be priests of God and of Christ : and shall reign 
with him a thousand years." 



HIST0RV OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 71 

Here, all those are pronounced blessed and holy, who have 
part in the first resurrection, or whose souls are admitted to 
bliss after their decease, because in them the second death hath 
no power, that is, because they are in no danger of damnation 
or second death at the last judgment. Their souls, from the 
moment of their admission into heaven, become priests of God 
and of Christ, by being empowered to offer before the throne 
of God and Christ their pure sacrifices of homage, praise, 
and thanksgiving, and will reign with him, God, and Christ, 
for a thousand years, that is, as St. Austin says, "for all the 
years to the end of the world," De Civit. xx. 7. ; at which time 
their bodies will be joined with them in the same beatitude. 

Fiom the above passages of the Apocalypse misunderstood, 
some ancients inferred that the saints will rise again to life a 
thousand years before the rest of mankind, and in their souls 
and bodies will reign with Christ upon earth during that 
spaceof time, in the enjoyment of all lawful sensual pleasures. 
This opinion is called the Millenarian system ; which, instead 
of having any foundation in the present text, is refuted by it. 
For St. John here speaks of the happiness of the souls only, 
of those who were beheaded, &c. without hinting the least at 
the state of their bodies. Whence it appears, that by the first 
resurrection the apostle understands the glory of heaven, 
into which the just enter after their death, and which they 
will enjoy for a thousand years, that is, during the whole 
course of time to the general resurrection. Besides, the notion 
of two resurrections of the flesh, or of body and soul, is fully 
disproved by our Saviour's words: u The hour cometh, where- 
in all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God, and they that have done good things shall come forth 
unto the resurrection of life ; but they that have done evil, un- 
to the resurrection of judgment," John, v. 28, 29. Here Christ 
expresses very clearly but one general resurrection of the 
good and the wicked together. Hence it is no wonder, that 
the Millenarian opinion fell early into disrepute, and has been 
long exploded. But as some moderns have endeavoured to 
revive it, it may be worth while to read the following brief 
account of its original rise, progress, and decline, in the 
learned Dr. Calmet's comment on this chapter of the Apoca- 
lypse. 

11 The system of the Millenarians owes its origin to the 
Jews. They expected to reign a thousand years with the 
Messiah on earth, as appears from the fourth book of Esdras, 
and from the works of some of their most famous rabbins, as 



72 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Maimonides, and Manasse-B en- Israel. But he that gave the 
greatest credit to that opinion, was Papias, a disciple of St. 
John the Evangelist, and companion of St. Polycarp. He 
pretended to have received the Millenarian doctrine from the 
apostles and their disciples. Upon this assertion it was 
adopted by St. Irenaeus, St. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Victo- 
rinus, Lactantius, and several others ; while it was on the 
other hand impugned by others from the first ages of the 
church. And certainly what Eusebius remarks of the cha- 
racter of Papias, ought to be sufficient to discredit his autho- 
rity. He was a man of very moderate understanding, who, 
for want of comprehending what he heard from the apostles, 
took literally what was said in a mystical sense. St. Diony- 
sius of Alexandria in the third century expressly refuted one 
Nepos, who had composed a book in defence of the Millena- 
rian opinion. And Caius, a priest of the church of Rome in 
the second century, calls it a fable invented by Cerinthus. 
Origen also rejects it in several places of his works. — In fine, 
we may conclude with a very able man, M. du Pin, Dissert, 
sur les Millenaires, who has fully discussed the question, that 
the Millenarian sentiment is contrary to the gospel, to the doc- 
trine of St. Paul, and is not at all found in the Apocalypse.' , 

To conclude this part of our present history ; the reader 
may remark, that the events, which took their rise in the first 
age of the Church, have been here carried on in a continued 
series, because connected, far beyond the period of that age, 
which terminates about the year 320. And in general it 
must be observed, that the transactions relating to the Church 
are not confined w T ithin the compass of the age which gives 
them birth, and which they serve to characterize, but continue 
and extend into the subsequent ages. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH. THE OPENING OF THE SECOND SEAL. 

Apoc. chap. vi. 3. " And when he had opened the second 
seal, I heard," says St. John, " the second living creature, 
saying : Come and see. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 73 

V. 4. "And there went out another horse, that was red: 
and to him that sat thereon it was given that he should take 
peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, 
and a great sword was given to him." 

Here is announced the heresy of Arianism, the rise of 
which opened the second age of the Church, about the year 
320. 

He who sits on the horse is the Heresiarch, Arius ; and his 
horse is red, or according to the Greek expression, of a fiery 
colour, agreeing with the character of heresy, which always 
kindles a flame of discord and violence. To him, the rider, 
it was given that he should take peace from the earth, and that 
they should kill one another. Constantine the Great had pro- 
cured peace to the Church in 313, by suppressing the Roman 
idolatrous power, as we have before seen ; but this peace is 
soon banished by intestine broils, occasioned by Arius 
broaching, in 319, a new doctrine, which impiously denied 
the divinity of Christ our Redeemer, This blasphemous 
doctrine, in progress of time, raised such a flame of conten- 
tion among the Christians, that there ensued commotions, tu- 
mults, violences, and bloodshed. A great sword was given 
him, to Arius and the Arians, who were supported by the 
great powers of the earth, as by several Roman emperors, 
and by several kings of the Goths, the Vandals, &c. who 
employed the sword in defence of the Arian doctrine, and 
cruelly persecuted the Catholic Christians. This expli- 
cation will be elucidated presently by an historical account of 
that heresy. 

The whole drift of the Arian doctrine being to impugn the 
divine nature of Christ : in opposition to it was ascribed to 
the Lamb the attribute of divinity, or riches, according to the 
Greek text, Apoc. v. 12. see p. 29; that is, the riches of the 
Godhead, which he shares equally with the Father ; for in 
him " dvvelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporally," 
Coloss. ii. 9 ; and Christ speaking to the Father, says ; " all 
my things are thine ; and thine arc mine." John xvii. 10. 

Let it be remarked that, at the opening of the second seal, 
the second living creature, which, as we have before shown, 
represents the prophet Jeremias, says to St. John, " come, and 
see." This invitation comes with propriety from that prophet, 
who being a priest, here shows to St. John the apostacy of 
Arius, a priest of the Christian Church. Besides, Jeremias 
was sent by Almighty God against the false prophets, who 
deluded the Jews by their pernicious counsels and deceitful 
7 



74 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 






promises ; see Jer. c. 23. In a similar manner he here points 
out Arius, a false teacher in the Christian Church. 

The Sounding of the Second Trumpet 

Apoc. Chap. viii. 8. " And the second angel sounded the 
trumpet, and as it were a great mountain, burning with fire, 
was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became 
bjood. 

V. 9. " And the third part of those creatures died which 
had life in the sea, and the third part of the ships were de- 
stroyed." 

In the seal we saw the intestine convulsions and violences oc- 
casioned by the Arian disputes; here we iind described by an ex- 
pressive allegory, the spiritual mischief done by that same he- 
resy. And thus the second seal and second trumpet announce to 
us distinctly and separately the two dismal efFects, temporal and 
spiritual, of Arianism. A great mountain burning with fire, 
or a great heresy, tending to kindle among Christians the fire 
of discord in their principles of faith, and the flame of mu- 
tual animosity, is cast into the sea ; that is, published in the 
Church, which it embroils, and w r hich therefore is now re- 
presented as a troubled sea. And the third part of the sea 
becomes blood, by which change its waters become poisonous 
to the fish that live in them : and in like manner the Catholic 
doctrine, on which the faithful live, is corrupted by Arianism 
through a third part of the Church, and becomes poisonous 
and destructive. The consequence of which is, the third 
part of those creatures die, which have life in the sea, or the 
third part nearly of the Christians drink the heretical poison, 
and die a spiritual death. And even the third part of the 
ships were destroyed, that is, a third part of the particular 
churches entire with their pastors, meant here by the ships, 
imbibe the same poison and perish. 

The natural consequences of heresy are, disputes and con- 
tentions in the Church ; and therefore we find ascribed to i 
voices or noises. Apoc. viii. 5. seep. 19. 

The pouring out of the second Vial of the wrath of God. 

Apoc. chap. xvi. 3. " And the second angel," says St. 
John, " poured out his vial upon the sea, and there came 
blood as it were of a dead man : and every living soul died 
in the sea." 

As at the sounding of the second trumpet, a fiery mountain 
was thrown into the sea, or among the Christians ; so here 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 75 

the second vial of God's wrath is also poured out upon the 
sea. or on the corrupted and guilty part of the Christians, 
namely, the Arian heretics. And there came blood as it 
were of a dead man: on pouring out the vial follows the di- 
vine judgment. There appears blood like that of a dead man, 
or blood, which after having flowed with a free and vigorous 
circulation during the time of health, gradually retards its 
motion in a dying man, is totally lost and stopped when the 
man is dead. Thus the Arians, after having subsisted for a 
while in a vigorous condition and powerful state, are con- 
demned by a just judgment, to decline, dwindle, and die away. 
Hence, every living soul died in the sea; the Arians were, in 
course of time, either destroyed or converted to the Catholic 
faith, and the heresy extinguished Such was their case. 

The preceding Explication illustrated by a short account of 
the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Arianism. 

By the accession of Constantine to the imperial throne ido» 
latry received a deadly blow, and the Christian religion was 
established and peaceably practised throughout the whole 
Roman empire from the year 313. The blessing of so happy 
a condition was more than could be expected by the Christians 
to last long, since Christ had fixed that his disciples should 
follow him, not by a life of ease and prosperity, but through 
the thorny road of tribulation. Their present situation was 
too flattering, not to raise the envy of their ever watchful and 
implacable enemy the devil, " He," to use the w r ords of St. 
Cyprian, u seeing his idols fallen into disrepute, and his tem- 
ples deserted, on account of the number of converts to Chris- 
tianity, invented a new artifice, to deceive the unwary under 
the disguise of the Christian name itself: this was heresy and 
schism, which he employed as his instruments to subvert 
faith, corrupt truth, and dissolve unity. Those that he could 
not keep in the old dark road of idolatry, he deceived by lead- 
ing them into the by-path of error.' 1 Lib. de Unit. EccL 
Arius, a turbulent ambitious priest of Alexandria in Egypt, as- 
pired to that see; but finding himself disappointed by the elec- 
tion of St Alexander, his jealousy and resentment stimulated 
him to decry the doctrine of this holy prelate, which was true 
and orthodox, and to oppose to it a new system of doctrine of 
his own invention. He began to teach that Christ was not 
God, but a created being, formed indeed before all other crea- 
tures, but not from eternity. Arius had a graceful mien, and 
a modest deportment : He was old, and had a mortified coun- 



76 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 






tenance : these qualities gave him credit, and contributed to 
gain him proselytes. 

The holy bishop, Alexander, at first endeavoured to reclaim 
him by mild remonstrances and entreaties : but these not 
availing, and his pernicious doctrine gaining ground, Alex- 
ander assembled a synod of the bishops of Egypt and Lybia, 
in which Ariusand his abettors were condemned and cut off 
from the communion of the faithful, in the year 320. Of 
this proceeding St. Alexander gave account by a circular let 
ter to all the bishops of the Church. Arius fled from Alex- 
andria into Palestine ; there he procured protection from some 
bishops : from thence he proceeded to Nicomedia, where he 
met with a favourable reception from its bishop, Eusebius, 
who became a warm friend to him, and his principal patron. 
But the heresiarch was not content with having gained over 
to his party some of the bishops ; he invented a scheme to 
propagate his tenets among the vulgar class of people. He 
composed songs, which he taught them to sing, and in them 
he mixed the poison of his doctrine, which by that easy 
means they unwarily sucked in. 

Constantine the emperor, in order to put a stop to the un- 
happy disputes that divided the Church, wrote letters to 
Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and to Arius, exhorting 
them to be reconciled. But this expedient proving inef- 
fectual, and the divisions increasing, at the solicitation of 
the bishops, he willingly concurred in procuring a general 
council of the Church to be held. The place pitched upon 
for it was Nice in Bithynia, and the emperor generously 
defrayed the whole charges of the Clergy, who resorted 
thither from all parts of the world, to the number of 318, 
in the year 325. St. Sylvester, pope, not being able to go 
himself to the council, commissioned Osius, bishop of Cor- 
duba in Spain, to preside there in his name, and sent him 
two priests, Vitus and Vicentius, for assistants. Arius was 
there present, and had two and twenty bishops of his party. 
Constantine made a short speech to the fathers, in which, 
among other things, he said : " Let us take care, that after 
having crushed, by the help of God, our Saviour, the ty- 
ranny of those who waged war against him, the devil by 
his jealousy does not expose the gospel to the slander and 
malevolence of the wicked, by this intestine war which I 
see rise up in the Church." The fathers then called upon 
Arias, to explain his doctrine, which shocked them very 
much. He and his partisans were soon confounded, and 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 77 

in the debate St. Athanasius distinguished himself by force 
of argument in defence of the Catholic faith. In line, the 
Arian doctrine was proscribed, and Jesus Christ declared 
to be truly God, consubstantial, or having the same eternal 
substance with the Father, and that the Father is in him, 
and he in the Father. In consequence of this determina- 
tion they drew up a profession of the Catholic faith, which is 
called the Nicene Creed, to which all subscribed, except a 
few Arian bishops. These, with Arius and his other ad- 
herents, w r ere anathematized by the council, and banished 
by Constantino 

In this manner the Catholic faith was ascertained, and 
triumphed over its enemies : but the spirit of heresy, which is 
always restless, could not be quelled. The Arians, though 
every w r ay confounded, instead of yielding, employed them- 
selves in raising fresh troubles. They wrote to the emperor, 
and by pretending to admit the Nicene faith, they got them- 
selves recalled from banishment; they then set themselves to 
poison the emperor's mind by different arts, by slanders and 
calumnies against the Catholic bishops, and prevailed upon 
him to banish some of them, among whom was St. Athana- 
sius, bishop of Alexandria. But not stopping there, they 
concerted a scheme to get Arius received into the Church, 
even in the imperial city of Constantinople, and in the pre- 
sence of the emperor who then resided there, in 336. For 
that purpose they insinuated to Constantine, that Arius was 
become orthodox in his doctrine, and they requested he might 
be called to Constantinople. This being granted, and Arius 
arrived in the city, the emperor sent for him, and asked him 
if he received the Nicene faith? the heresiarch answered in the 
affirmative, and presented to the emperor a w r ritten profession 
of faith, in appearance not different from that of Nice, but 
conceived in artful and ambiguous terms. The emperor, 
supposing him sincere, desired Alexander, bishop of Con- 
stantinople, to receive him into the Catholic Communion. 
The holy prelate remonstrated pathetically against such a 
dangerous and uncanonical step, but Arius's friends were 
clamorous, and insisted on the emperor's desire being com- 
plied with. The bishop retired immediately into the church, 
prostrated himself before the altar, and in his fervent prayer 
thus addressed Almighty God: "Lord, if Arius must be re- 
ceived into the church, be pleased to take me out of the w r orld; 
but if you have compassion on your church, as I know you 
have, permit not your inheritance to become an object of 
7* 



78 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

contempt." Next morning Arius's friends assembled, and 
resolved to conduct him to church in spite of the bishop. 
They were leading him, as in triumph, through the streets, 
when on a sudden finding himself pressed by a necessity of 
nature, he retired into a back place to ease himself; but there 
with his excrements he voided his bowels, and was found 
dead. Thus was the hand of God visible upon Arius. 

This ambitious apostate and proud heresiarch had taken 
peace from the earth, had disturbed the Church of Christ, and 
created a fatal division among the Christians. " The church 
was in a flourishing condition," says the historian, Eusebius, 
speaking of the rise of Arianism, " and the faithful employed 
themselves in all kinds of holy exercises with comfort and 
joy ; nor was there the least danger to be feared from any 
foreign enemy. But a secret jealousy unhappily crept in. 
It first insinuated itself into the minds of the people, then 
found its way into the assemblies of the bishops, whom it 
animated against another, one by raising disputes and alter- 
cations among them concerning the Christian doctrine. This 
small beginning gave rise to a great flame, which first broke 
out at Alexandria," having been there kindled by Arius. De 
vita Const, lib. 2. c. 61. 

Constantine the Great, dying in 337, left three sons, who 
divided the empire according to their fathers directions. 
Constantine, the eldest, had Spain, Gaul, and all the provinces 
on this side of the Alps, Constantius, the second son, had 
Thrace, Asia, Egypt, and the eastern countries : and Con- 
stant the youngest, had Italy, Sicily, Africa, except Egypt, 
Greece, and Illyricum. Constantius was soon gained over 
by the Arians, and his family was chiefly composed of them. 
From his palace the infection diffused itself, first into private 
families, and by degrees was propagated into the towns and 
even distant provinces under his dominion. Many bishops 
imbibed the contagion, and communicated it to their flocks. 
This great accession of number increased the Arian power, 
which they did not fail to exert in persecuting the orthodox 
Christians. They gave great trouble to St. Athanasius by 
the calumnies they invented against him, and they intruded 
into his see of Alexandria, by force of arms, a bishop of their 
own party in his place. When St. Alexander, bishop of 
Constantinople, died in 340, Paul, a true Catholic, was chosen 
his successor, but the Arian faction deposed him with the 
agreement of the Emperor Constantius, and substituted in his 
room the arch-Arian, Eusebius of Nicomedia. From that 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 79 

date the Arians were masters in Constantinople, for forty 
years. They carried on every thing by violence in the east : 
relying on the protection of the Emperor Constantius, they 
arrogated the power of deposing at their pleasure the orthodox 
prelates, and filling their places with Arians. 

By all these different means, Arianism had very much dif- 
fused itself through the east, while the west w r as but little 
tainted with it. This produced great disunion in the church ; 
which occasioned a council to be held at Sardica, in IHyri- 
cum, in 347. It was composed of about 250 bishops con- 
vened from both the eastern and western provinces, of whom 
1 70 were orthodox, and fourscore of the Arian party. Several 
of the bishops and others there showed the wounds they had 
received from the swords of the Arians ; they complained of 
the cruel hardship they had been made to suffer, under which 
some had even perished ; they gave account of the violences 
committed by the soldiers and people, and of the threats of the 
judges : they represented that the virgins were stripped of 
their substance, the holy ministers imprisoned, and the 
churches burned. These and other persecutions, that had 
been carried on by the Arians, they recapitulated before the 
council. The Arian party expected to domineer in the coun- 
cil by means of the secular power, but they found they were 
disappointed. They saw that the fathers would have full 
liberty allowed them to judge, and that themselves would be 
condemned. They therefore retired abruptly, and w r ent to 
Philippopolis in Thrace. The council nevertheless pro- 
ceeded to business, and declared their firm adherence to the 
Nicene faith. They restored St. Athanasius and two other 
bishops to their sees, from whence they had been expelled, 
<nid they pronounced sentence of deposition and excommuni- 
cation against eleven bishops, who were the chiefs of the 
Arian faction. Then the fathers despatched deputies to the 
emperors to press the execution of these decrees, and to en- 
treat them to put a stop to Arian persecutions. The Oriental 
heretic bishops, who had retired to Philippopolis, held there 
a meeting, which they were bold enough to call the council of 
Sardica, and had the presumption to excommunicate Pop«3 
Julius, Osius of Corduba, and several other Catholic bishop?. 
Moreover, when the Arians heard they had been condemned 
at the true council of Sardica, they redoubled their violences 
against the orthodox. They caused several to be put to death ; 
some were exiled, others scourged, and others imprisoned. 

Constantius, after the death of his brothers, Constantino 



80 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

nnd Constans, having suppressed the usurpers Vertranmo 
und Magnentius, became master of the whole empire in 353. 
Two years after he commenced a general persecution against 
the Catholics. He sent judges through the different pro- 
vinces to compel the bishops to communicate with the Arians, 
und to subscribe to the sentence against St. Athanasius, whom 
he had procured to be condemned in a meeting of some Arian 
bishops at Milan. The prelates, who refused to comply, 
were banished, and others of the Arian faction intruded by 
force of arms. It was upon this occasion that Pope Liberius 
was exiled to Beraea in Thrace. The judges were also directed 
to imprison, punish, and confiscate the goods of the people 
who should take part with the exiled bishops. Macedonius, 
the Arian bishop and usurper of the see of Constantinople, 
made himself conspicuous in this scene of persecution. He 
obtained an edict from the emperor, which he published in 
Constantinople, and in all the neighbouring towns, and had it 
executed by force of arms, which ordered that all the Catholics 
should be banished, and their churches pulled down. But 
not content with these violences, he procured several persons 
to be burned in the forehead, others to be exposed to different 
torments, of which some died. 

In 359 was held a council at Arminium in Italy, consisting 
of above four hundred bishops, of whom about fourscore were 
Arians. They received orders from the Emperor Constantius, 
to attempt nothing against the Orientals. The council never- 
theless confirmed the Nicene faith, and deposed the heterodox 
bishops that were present. The Arians here dressed up 
a fraudulent profession of faith, in appearance Catholic, but 
containing the, Arian poison under artful ambiguous expres- 
sions. The Catholics, not aware of the fraud, and supposing 
the profession to be orthodox, subscribed it. It was in conse- 
quence of this subscription that St. Jerome made the following 
remark : " The world," said he, " was struck with grief, and 
wondered to find itself become Arian."* But the fathers no 
sooner perceived the imposition that had been put upon them, 
than they expressed their detestation of it, retracted their sub- 
scription, and professed their adherence to the true faith. 
The formula subscribed at Arminium was sent to all the pro- 
vinces of the empire, with an order from Constantius to all 
the bishops to sign it, under pain of banishment. This caused 
great trouble in the Church, and a kind of persecution, ana 
many bishops in the east signed the formula. 

* Iegerauit totus orbis, et Ananum so esse miratus est 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 81 

About this time great violences were committed at Alexan- 
dria by the Arians. Numbers of people were trampled to 
death in the streets by the soldiers, and others slain by their 
darts. St. Athanasius was forced to leave the place, and one 
George, an Arian, a brutish and cruel man, was placed in the 
patriarchal chair. He renewed the scenes of bloodshed and 
violence ; but two years after, by a just judgment, was massa- 
cred by the pagans for this cruelty. 

Constantius the emperor died in 361, and with his death 
ceased for a while the Arian persecution, What has been 
said of this prince sufficiently shows that he was " a great 
sword," according to the expression of the Apocalypse, in the 
hands of the Arians. In 364, Valens was invested with the 
empire of the east by his brother Valentinian, who kept to 
himself the west. This last prince was a true Catholic ; but 
Valens was inclined to Arianism, and openly declared in fa- 
vour of it in 367, when he was baptized by Eudoxus, the 
Arian bishop of Constantinople, who made him then swear, 
that he would always persist in his belief, and persecute those 
of a contrary persuasion. In conformity to his oath, this 
emperor became another great sword in defence of the Arians. 
The devil not being able, as Paulus Orosius observes, lib. 
vii. c. 29, to persecute the Church any longer by pagan em- 
perors who no longer existed, found means to do it by the 
hands of Christian emperors. Valens began his persecution 
against the orthodox, by ordering the governors of the pro- 
vinces to banish those bishops, who had been deposed by 
Constantius, and had recovered their sees under Julian. St. 
Athanasius among the rest underwent the penalty, and this 
was the fourth or fifth time he had been driven from his 
church. The Catholics at Constantinople suffered greatly ; 
they were insulted, wounded, and imprisoned, and some of 
them even put to death. To get a stop put to these violences, 
they sent a deputation of fourscore ecclesiastics to Valens at 
Nicomedia. These, instead of obtaining any redress from 
the inhuman emperor, were ordered to be put on board a 
vessel, and the vessel, when out at sea, to be set on fire. The 
barbarous order was executed, and they all perished. Perse- 
cution was openly carried on in different parts of the east. 
As the monks in the deserts were known to distinguish them- 
selves in supporting the true religion, Valens issued out an 
order that they should be compelled to bear arms, and the 
officers who were sent upon the commission, massacred a 
great number of them. 



82 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



The Emperor Valens perished miserably in 378, and he 
being the last of the Roman emperors that favoured Arianism, 
it lost ground in the eastern provinces, which were chiefly in- 
fected. And before the end of this century, that is, before the 
year 400, the Arians began to differ among themselves about 
their tenets, and they divided into different sects, and these 
divisions contributed to weaken their strength, and were even 
the occasion of many of them leaving their party, and em- 
bracing the Christian faith. 

On another side however one may take notice, that the 
Empress Justina, who favoured the Arians, gave some trouble 
to the Catholics in the west, particularly to St. Ambrose, at 
Milan ; and she prevailed upon her young son Valentinian II. 
to issue out an edict in support of the Arians, but as she died 
soon after, it produced but little effect. 

The Goths also, who from idolatry had been converted to 
Christianity, were afterwards brought over to Arianism, 
about the year 376, by their bishop Ulphilas, who suffered 
himself to be perverted by Eudoxus, the Arian bishop ot 
Constantinople. These Goths having overthrown the western 
empire of Rome, divided themselves into two bodies, one of 
which settled in Italy, and they were called Ostrogoths or 
eastern Goths ; the other proceeded into the southern parts of 
France, and afterwards into Spain, where they fixed, and were 
named Visigoths or western Goths. The Ostrogoths were 
converted by degrees to the Catholic faith, after their domi- 
nion in Italy was extinguished by Narses, the commander of 
the Emperor Justinian's troops, who defeated their army and 
slew their king Totila in 552. The Visigoths in Spain, under 
their king Reccared, who had been instructed by St. Hermene- 
gild, were brought over from Arianism to the orthodox faith 
about the year 587. The Suevi, j. German people who settled 
in Spain, had been also converted a few years before from the 
Arian heresy: in fine, in this king's reign an end was put to 
that heresy in Spain, where it had been imported by the bar- 
barous nations that invaded that country. 

The Lombard's, originally a German people, who conquer- 
ed part of Italy, and raised to themselves a kingdom there in 
572, were also Arians ; but Charlemagne vanquished them 
in 774, and put an end to their dominion. The remainder of 
them were in course of time converted. 

The Vandals were not only Arians, but cruel persecutors 
of the Catholic church. In a peace they made with the Ro- 
man emperor in 435, was ceded to them a large tract of coun- 



. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 83 

try in Africa, into which a considerable body of them passed 
from Spain, where they had been settled before. Two years 
after, Genseric, their king, resolved to establish Arianism in 
his new African kingdom, and with that view began to per- 
secute the Catholic bishops and to banish them from their sees. 
He afterwards forbid ordaining any Catholic bishops in his 
dominions, so that they were reduced in thirty years time to 
three. In 455 the persecution was so hot, that it crowned 
many with martyrdom, and their memorial is celebrated by 
the church on the 5th of April. The Arians were actuated 
with such rage and animosity, that they committed the most 
outrageous indignities: knowing that the Catholics were as- 
sembled at the holy communion, they broke in upon them, 
threw down the sacred Body and Blood of Christ, and tramp- 
led it under their feet. 

Huneric, son and successor to Genseric in 477, was, like 
his father, an Arian, but surpassed him in his barbarous 
treatment of the orthodox. He seemed to have more the na- 
ture of a Decius or a Dioclesian, than of a Christian prince. 
We shall only say in general, that he shut up all the Catholic 
churches in his dominons, he banished the bishops and clergy 
to the number of near five thousand, and very numerous were 
the victims sacrificed to his cruelty in this persecution, some 
of whom lost their limbs, others their lives, for their adherence 
to the true faith. But the hand of God overtook him in 485, 
and he died eaten up by worms. Two other persecutions 
were afterwards raised against the Catholics by Huneric' s suc- 
cessors, Gondamund and Thrasimund. But the Emperor Jus- 
tinian in 535 sent his general Belisarius into Africa, who 
defeated the Vandals, and put an end to their kingdom and 
power. 

Let this account suffice to show, with how much propriety 
the Arian heresy is styled in our text of the Apocalypse, " a 
great mountain, burning with fire," flung into the Church. It 
now appears what a flame it kindled of discord, intestine con 
vulsions, and persecution, and that it corrupted the faith of a 
considerable part, both of its pastors and people. But we must 
at the same time take notice, that, notwithstanding all the dif- 
ferent artifices and violences employed by the Arians to in- 
crease their party, and to suppress that of the orthodox, the 
greatest portion of the flock of Christ, even in the east, stood 
firm in their faith, and adhered closely to the determination of 
the council of Nice. This is attested by St. Athanasius, who 
lived in the midst of the scene, and bore a great share in it 



84 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

The same is asserted by St. Basil in the time of the Emperor 
Valens. Besides, the western Church was for a considerable 
time almost unanimous in its detestation of that blasphemous 
heresy ; till it was imported thither by foreign people, who 
came and settled in her countries. It is said that the fiery 
mountain corrupted a part of the waters of the sea ; in like 
manner Arianism infused its infection into some part of the 
Church ; but as the waters of the sea by their natural convulsive 
motion cast forth the filth they contain in their bosom, and purify 
themselves ; so the pastors and community of the faithful, as 
soon as they perceived the lurking poison of Arianism, be- 
stirred themselves to repel it, by assembling councils, by 
preaching, praying, &c. which efforts had their full effect, and 
defeated the enemy. The mighty power of emperors and kings 
came in to its assistance, but even that fell before infirm de- 
fenceless men, the faithful pastors, who stood intrepid against 
it ; for " the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that 
he may confound the strong," 1 Cor. 1. 27. How vain and 
senseless the attempt, in any power below heaven, to force the 
Church to change her belief! when He, who built her up, 
had pronounced that " the gates of hell should never prevail 
against her," Mat. xvi. 18. How is it possible that the Church 
should ever be prevailed upon to declare against the divinity 
of Christ, which is the very rock on which she stands ? The 
rise of Arianism therefore served only as a touchstone, to dis- 
tinguish the sound part of Christians from the unsound. It 
was a useful instrument to separate the chaff from the corn : 
" There must be heresies," says St. Paul, " that they who are 
approved may be made manifest," 1 Cor. xi. 19. This me- 
thod Christ made use of to purge away all dross from his 
Church, and the pure metal only remaining, she shone with 
more brightness. While on the other hand Arianism, not be- 
ing able to stand against su^h superior lustre, withdrew by 
degrees, and sunk quite away. 

Such is the history of what relates to the second age of the 
Church. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 85 



CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF THE THIRD AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
THE OPENING OF THE THIRD SEAL. 

Avoc. chap. vi. 5. " And when he (the Lamb) had opened 
the third seal, I heard," says St. John, "the third living crea- 
ture, saying : Come, and see. And behold a black horse, and 
he that sat on him, had a pair of scales in his hand, 

V. 6. " And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the 
four living creatures, saying; Two pounds of wheat for a penny, 
and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny, and see thou 
hurt not the wine and the oil." 

Here is announced a dreadful famine, which is the first step 
taken by the Almighty for the destruction of the empire of 
pagan Rome ; and with it commences the third age of the 
Church, about the year 406 

The voice cries out : " Two pounds of wheat for a penny, 
and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny." The Roman 
penny or denarius is, in our money, about seven pence three 
farthings, (16 cents,) an exorbitant price in those days for two 
pounds of wheat or six pounds of barley, and shows great 
scarcity. This famine afflicted the western Roman empire in 
406 and the following years, when Arcadius reigned emperor 
in the east, and Honorius in the west : the body of the Roman 
empire having been divided into two states : the eastern, the 
capital of which was Constantinople ; and the western having 
Rome for its capital ; w T hich last is the subject of our present 
consideration. The famine was occasioned by the irruption 
of those barbarous nations, the Goths, the Vandals, the Huns, 
the Alans, &c. who came in swarms from the north, invaded 
the Roman provinces, and carried devastation along with them. 
This is attested by all the historians of those times. These 
people were sent by Almighty God to execute his avenging 
justice on idolatrous Rome and its empire, to distress it with 
calamities, to seize its provinces, to humble its pride, and put 
an end to its power and dominion. 

The black colour of the horse is suitable to the nature of 
famine, which wastes and dries the body, and tinges the skin 
with a blackish hue, agreeably to that of Jeremias : M Our skin 
8 



86 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

is burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine," 
Lament, v. 10. The black or funeral colour of the horse 
agrees also with the condition here considered of the heathen 
Roman empire, which is now going into destruction. And he 
that sits on the horse, is Alaric, king of the Goths, the prin- 
cipal nation among those that concurred in the subversion of 
the Roman state : and in Alaric may be comprehended the 
chiefs of the other nations. The rider holds a pair of scales 
in his hand to weigh the grain, which indicates that the dearth 
will be so great, that all the grain will be sold by exact weight 
and measure. And here we may take notice of the propriety 
of this spectacle being shown to St. John by the third living 
creature, or the prophet Ezechiel, who had announced to the 
Jews the like calamity, with which God intended to punish 
them. Thus spoke God by that prophet: " Behold, I will 
break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem ; and they shall 
eat bread by weight, and with care ; and they shall drink wa- 
ter by measure, and in distress." Ezech. iv. 16. Let us also 
observe, that the voice which spoke came from the midst of 
the four living creatures, that is, it was one voice composed of 
the voices of the four living creatures, or of the four great pro- 
phets, Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, and Daniel. They severally 
foretold the fall of ancient Babylon, which was a figure of tht, 
fall of pagan Rome, this city being styled Babylon in the Apo- 
calypse. On account therefore of their common prediction, 
their voices are joined in one to announce the approaching fate 
of Rome. But it is added: Hurt not the wine and the oil. 
This expression seems to point at the character of the invaders 
of the Roman territory, who were all northern people, and 
consequently not being used to wine and oil, which are not 
produced in their countries, naturally neglected them, while at 
the same time they swept away all the grain. In northern 
countries at present both wine and oil are imported, and com- 
monly used, but it was not so in those days, when little or no 
commerce or even communication subsisted between the north- 
ern and southern nations. 

In the subject of this Seal we see shine forth that wisdom, 
the attribute of the Lamb, Apoc. v. 12. see p. 29. according to 
the dictates of which he demolishes kingdoms and raises up 
others. 

The Sounding of the third Trumpet. 

Apoc. chap. viii. 10. " And the third angel," says St. John, 
" sounded the trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven burn- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 87 

ing as it were a torch, and it fell on the third part of the rivers, 
and upon the fountains of waters : 

V. 11. "And the name of the star is called wormwood: 
And the third part of the waters became wormwood : and 
many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." 

Here is an allegorical description of new calamities that 
were to be inflicted on heathen Rome and its provinces. A 
great star falls from heaven: this great star represents the 
above-named powerful nations of the north; it falls from 
heaven ; they are sent by Almighty God to destroy Rome, as 
formerly Nabuchodonosor was sent to destroy Jerusalem, and 
Cyrus to destroy Babylon. This star is said to burn like a 
torch, on account of the desolation which these barbarians 
spread in their progress, by laying waste the cities and country 
by fire. The star fell on the third part of the rivers, and upon 
the fountains of waters. Those people spread themselves 
over a third part of the Roman provinces, signified by the 
rivers ; they invaded particularly the western parts ; then fell 
upon Rome itself, and Italy denoted by the fountains of wa- 
ters. That the rivers and waters signify the provinces of the 
Roman empire, appears from the explication given by the angel 
to St. John in chap. xvii. 15. of the Apocalypse. " The waters 
which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and 
nations, and tongues." Furthermore the name of the star is 
wormwood ; the star may well be called wormwood since it 
caused such bitter distresses, such bitter calamities, and in fine 
ruin to the Roman people. The same kind of expression for 
calamities, sent by the hand of God, we find in the prophet 
Jeremias : " Behold," said the Lord, " I will feed this people 
(the Jews) with wormwood, and I will give them water of gall 
to drink," Jer. ix. 15. Lastly: the third part of the waters 
became wormwood : and many men died of the waters, be- 
cause they were made bitter : a great number of the Romans 
perished by the bitter draught of those calamities. 

The disasters, and devastations by fire, that afflicted the 
Roman dominions at this time, may therefore very justly be 
compared to the effects of lightning. Apoc. viii. 5. see p. 35. 

But here we must observe, that this third trumpet sounded 
not only war and ruin to the pagan Roman empire, but also 
a terrible alarm to the Christians in it, as they became in- 
volved in those general calamities, and suffered extremely. 
Besides, they had lived for some time with comfort under 
Christian emperors, and shared their benevolence and pro- 
tection : but this blessing also was now wrested from them 



88 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

by the northern invaders, who superseded the western Ro- 
man emperors, and seizing their provinces, set up their own 
princes, who were either idolaters or Arians. Nay, even his- 
tory informs us, that about the year 480 there was not one 
Catholic king in the world. Odoacer, who reigned over 
Italy, was an Arian ; the same were the kings in Spain, 
and Genseric in Africa. The different princes in Gaul or 
France were also either Heathens or Arians. In the East 
reigned the Emperor Zeno, an abettor of the Eutychian he- 
resy ; and the kings of Persia were pagans. 

The pouring out of the third Vial of the wrath of God. 

Apoc. chap. xvi. 4. "And the third angel," says St. 
John, " poured out his vial upon the rivers and the fountains 
of waters : and there was made blood. 

V. 5. " And I heard the angel of the waters, saying : 
Thou art just, O Lord, who art, and who wast, the holy one, 
because thou hast judged these things : 

V. 6. " For they have shed the blood of saints and pro- 
phets, and thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they are 
w r orthy. 

V. 7. " And I heard another from the altar, saying: Yea, 
O Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judgments." 

At the sounding of the third trumpet the great star fell 
upon the rivers and the fountains of waters : so likewise the 
third vial of the wrath of God is here poured out on the ri- 
vers and the fountains of waters, this is, on the pagans of the 
western Roman provinces, and on those of Italy and Rome 
itself. And there was made blood : this is the last stroke, 
that of the sword employed by the Almighty to complete the 
overthrow of the Roman empire ; and effectually dreadful 
was the slaughter the barbarians made of the pagan Roman 
people. The divine judgment being executed, the justice of it 
is immediately proclaimed by the angel of the waters, that is, 
by the angel that presided over the Roman state. He cries out : 
" Thou art just, O Lord, who art, and who wast, the holy 
one, because thou hast judged these things ;" and the reason 
is added : " For they have shed the blood of saints and pro- 
phets, and therefore thou hast given them blood to drink : for 
they are worthy," or deserve it: they, the Romans, have ex- 
ercised the most cruel persecutions against thy people, the 
Christians, they have spilt their blood, and that of thy apos- 
tles and ministers of thy gospel, and now by a just retaliation 
thou hast given them blood to drink, and by bringing upon 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 89 

them other people, as cruel as themselves, to pour out their 
blood. Then the angel, who presides over the altar of holo- 
causts, at the foot of which, according to the Jewish rites, was 
poured out the blood of the victims, joins agreeably to his 
function in acknowledging the divine justice in the effusion 
of the Roman blood. He addresses the Almighty, saying : 
44 Yea, O Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judg- 
ments." We may here take notice that the above-mentioned 
calamities are very plainly intimated in few terms by our pro- 
phet in chap, xviii. 8. of the Apocalypse, where, speaking 
of the punishment of heathen Rome, he says : " Her plagues 
shall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine ;" 
famine being the subject of the present seal, mourning that 
of the trumpet, and death that of the vial. 

Such are the events, which characterize the third age of 
the Church, and make up its history. 

The preceding Explication illustrated by a brief Historical 
account of the fall of ancient Rome with its Empire. 

The Roman empire, like all other human structures, was 
built upon a perishable foundation. It had its rise and its de- 
cline. In its first ages it supported itself by wisdom and mo- 
deration, and owed its amazing growth to its prowess, forti- 
tude and perseverance : but in the latter part of its period, 
which we here consider, these qualities were no more found 
in it. Its progress was like that of an elegant human shape, 
which had reached maturity of perfection, but whose beauty 
was now in the wane. The prophet Daniel had, long before 
its existence, described its nature. He compares it first to 
iron, Dan. ii. 20, &c. As iron is the strongest of metals, so 
the Roman state was to perform greater achievments than any 
of the preceding empires, and was to subdue them all. Then 
he compares it to iron mixed with clay. The mixture of iron 
and clay exhibits the subsequent decline of that state, clay 
being put for a sign of its weakness, and want of solidity. 
Such then was the nature of the Roman state. We see it 
therefore extending its dominion, and gaining universal 
empire during the time of its consuls and first emperors: 
but after that period, we see it distracted with interior convul- 
sions and civil wars. The military grew licentious, the pa- 
tricians luxurious and effeminate, the plebeians mutinous, and 
the emperors cruel and debauched. Hence it is plain, its 
constitution was growing old, and was tending to a decay, 
from its own infirmities and disorders. But though its caso 
8* 



90 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

seemed almost desperate, a tolerable recovery might have 
been hoped for from active and valiant governors, who might 
have reformed its defects, and revived in the people a share 
of the spirit of their ancestors. But this was not to be. 
Rome had provoked the indignation of the supreme Ruler of 
empires. It had bent its whole power to the supporting of 
idolatry, and to the suppressing of the establishment of the 
Christian religion. An invisible hand was therefore depress- 
ing it, and it was doomed to drink the full cup of the wrath of 
the Almighty, and even in the most conspicuous manner. 

Many were the instruments employed by the hand of God 
for this purpose. He brought down upon the empire a mul- 
titude of barbarous nations, which being almost destitute of 
humanity, tore out its bowels without mercy. Among these 
the Goths bore a principal share. They were originally a 
people of Gothland, in Sweden, where finding themselves too 
closely confined for their number, a large body of them 
passed into Pomerania, where Tacitus places them : thence 
they advanced to the neighbourhood of Palus Maeotis : and 
afterwards bent their route westerly, and extended themselves 
along the north side of the Danube. From thence they made 
incursions into the Roman empire, carrying famine and deso- 
lation along with them. The emperors, harassed with wars 
on every side, were compelled to come into terms with them, 
and allowed to part of them a settlement in Thrace. In con- 
sideration of this indulgence, they remained quiet for a while, 
and even assisted the Romans against their other enemies. 
But new pretences of complaint soon rising, they made new 
incursions, and were of all the northern nations the most 
troublesome to the Romans. 

Alaric, whom they chose for their king, an enterprising 
ambitious adventurer, animated with the success of former 
invasions, conceived a design in the year 402, of seizing on 
the beautiful fertile country of Italy, and attacking Rome it- 
self. Claudian, the Roman poet who lived at that time, in 
his book on the Gothic war, introduces Alaric speaking thus 



-Per tot populos urbesque cucurri : 



Fregi Alpes, galeisque Padum victricibus hausi: 

Quia restat nisi Roma mihi 1 
"I have run over," says Alaric, "so many countries and cities, I have 
crossed the Alps and the river Po, carrying every where victory with my 
arms : what then remains for me to conquer, but Rome itself?" 

Alaric entered Italy in 402 at the head of his Arian Goths, 
Honorius being then emperor in the west, and Arcadius in 
the east, but was defeated in two different battles near Pollen- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 91 

tia and Verona by Stilico, Honorius's general, and was com- 
pelled to retire out of Italy into Dalmatia. This victory was 
celebrated by the before-mentioned poet, who being a pagan, 
boasted much of the pretended special protection given by the 
pagan deities on this occasion to Rome. Thus speaks he : 

Hanc urbem insano nullus qui marte petivit, 

Laetatus violasse redit. Nee Numina sedem destituunt. 

Lib. de bello Get. 
"No one," says he, "has presumed to attack Rome, that has not re- 
turned from it confounded at his own folly and madness. For the gods 
cease not to protect their seat." 

Claudian, when he wrote this, was little aware of what was 
to follow, and it is doubtful whether he lived to see the sack- 
ing of Rome by the same Alaric, which happened within a 
few years after. 

In the year 406 Radagaisus, another Gothic prince, a pa- 
gan, assembled together an immense army of Goths and other 
barbarous people inhabiting the north side of the Rhine and 
Danube, (some say four hundred thousand men,) and advanced 
into Italy under pretence of revenging the slaughter of their 
countrymen made at Pollentia and Verona. All Italy and 
Rome itself were thrown into the utmost consternation. The 
heathens, who were still numerous in the city, though their 
idols had been taken away by the emperor's order in 399, 
raised an uproar, saying Radagaisus would certainly prevail, 
on account of his devotion to the gods, and Rome had los 
their protection by neglecting their worship. St. Austin, who 
was then at Carthage, was informed of these things, and men- 
tions the pagans of the city of Rome making their complaint 
in the following manner ; " We offer no more sacrifices to the 
gods, while Radagaisus sacrifices to them every day. What 
can we then expect, but to fall into the hands of this barbarous 
but religious prince?" De civ. Dei. lib. 5. c. 23. To these 
complaints they added blasphemies against the name of 
Christ. That great army advanced as far as Florence, 
where Stilico, at the head of the Roman legions, assisted by 
a body of Huns and Alans, fell suddenly upon it and entirely 
routed it. Radagaisus himself was soon after taken by the 
Romans and put to death, and his whole army perished. 
Thus Almighty God would not suffer, as St. Austin remarks, 
that a pagan prince should be the executor of his justice, lest 
the idolatrous people of Rome should ascribe his success to 
the false gods he adored. 

At the end of the year 406, three different nations of the 
north joined their arms together, the Vandals from the north 



92 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

of Germany, the Suevi also from Germany, and the Alans, 
people of Sarmatia or Poland ; and having passed the Rhine, 
they spread themselves through the Roman provinces of Gaul. 
They sacked the towns, they plundered the country, they put 
to death many christians, and carried desolation and slaugh- 
ter wherever they went. These were soon followed by ano- 
ther swarm from Germany, composed of Burgundians, 
Franks, Saxons, and others : so that the whole country of 
Gaul or France was overspread with barbarians. St. Je- 
rom, who lived at that time, thus describes these irruptions : 
44 A multitude of barbarous nations have possessed themselves 
of ali Gaul. The duadi, the Vandals, the Sarmatians, the 
Alans, the Gepidi, the Heruli, the Saxons, the Burgundians, 
the Alemanni, and the Pannonians,* have laid waste the 
whoie country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between 
the ocean and the Rhine." Epist. xi. ad. Ager. He goes 
on with specifying the deplorable devastations and massacres 
committed by this shoal of savages. The author of a poem 
on Providence, who bore a share in these calamities, says 
that, 4t if the ocean itself had broken through its bounds and 
overflowed all Gaul, it could not have done more mischief." 
It appears then that the people of the western part of the em- 
pire were compelled to swallow a full draught of wormwood, 
and would have been glad to purchase two pounds of wheat 
for a Roman penny, or at an excessive price. 

Alaric, after his retreat, as we have seen, into Dalmatia, 
agreed to assist the Emperor Honorius with his troops 
against the enemies of Rome, but when the work was done, 
he could not obtain from the emperor the reward he thought 
due for his services. Upon this disappointment he in 408 
invaded Italy at the head of his army. It was upon this oc- 
casion, as the historians Socrates and Sozemon relate, that 
a holy hermit met him, and exhorted him to spare Rome, 
and not bring upon himself the guilt of so much blood and 
destruction ; to whom Alaric made this answer : 4 ' I con- 
stantly feel an impulse within me, that gives me no rest, but 
presses me to go and destroy that city." He pillaged the 
country as he went, pitched his camp in the neighbourhood 
of Rome, and besieged it. This occasioned a famine to rage 
in that city ; the famine gave birth to a plague which carried 
off numbers of people. In this extremity, the senate of 
Rome offered him a large sum of money, with such other ad- 

* By the Pannonians St. Jerom seems to understand the Huns, and the 
Suevi by the Alemanni. 




HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 93 

vantageous proposals, that he thought fit to desist from his 
enterprise, and retired into Tuscany. 

During these times inexpressible were the devastations 
and barbarities committed in different parts of the empire by 
numerous invaders, the northern wolves, as St. Jerom styles 
them. Thus speaks he : " It shocks me to relate the mise- 
ries of our present times. For twenty years past and more, 
from Constantinople to the Julian Alps, we see the Roman 
blood every day spilt. Scythia, Thracia, Macedonia, Darda- 
nia, Dacia, Thessalonica, Achaia, Epirus, Dalmatia, and all 
the Pannonians, are plundered and laid waste by the Goths, 
the Sarmatians, the Quadi, the Alans, the Huns, the Vandals, 
and the Marcomans. How many matrons, virgins, and per- 
sons, of noble birth have been abused by these beasts ! The 
bishops are carried into captivity, the priests and others of 
the clergy murdered. The churches are thrown down, 
horses tied to the altars of Christ, and the ashes of the mar- 
tyrs are dug up from their tombs. Every where groans and 
lamentations ; every where death appears in various shapes. 
The whole Roman empire is tumbling." Epist. 3. ad He- 
Hod. 

In 409, the next year after his retiring into Tuscany, Ala- 
ric, impatient that some articles of the treaty made with him 
were not fulfilled, complained to Honorius, but met with a 
repulse. Enraged at this usage, he assembled his troops and 
marched towards Rome. The emperor, to oppose him, took 
into pay ten thousand Huns, and sent Valens with six thou- 
sand men to reinforce the garrison of Rome : but this officer 
fell into an ambush laid for him, and all his men were either 
killed or taken. Alaric advanced to Rome, and laid close 
siege to it. 

And now the time approached, which the Almighty had 
fixed, for delivering that city into the hands of Alaric. " The 
day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to 
come ;" Deut. xxxii. 35. The Pagans were still numerous 
there, and averse to Christianity. May we not then inter- 
rupt for a moment the thread of our narrative, and consider 
the Almighty as making the same challenge to these pagans, 
which he formerly did to those who obstructed the establish- 
ment of the Jews % " Where are your gods, in whom you 
trust ? — Let them arise and help you, and protect you in 
your distress. See ye, that I alone am, and there is no other 
God besides me. — If I shall whet my sword as the lightning, 
and my hand take hold on judgment, I will return vengeance 



94 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

on my enemies, and repay them that hate me. I will make 
my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour 
flesh." Deut. xxxii. 37, &c. 

While Alaric lay before Rome, Heraclion, governor of Afri- 
ca for the Emperor Honorius, being informed of the siege, 
forbade all provisions being sent from Africa to the city of 
' Rome, which used to be chiefly supplied from thence. This 
caused a famine, which raged to a degree that had never been 
felt before. " Rome," says St. Jerom, "perished by famine 
before it perished by the sword. Such was the force of hun- 
ger, that they fed upon the most execrable meats ; the people 
tore one another to pieces to devour their flesh, and mothers 
did not even spare the infants at their breasts, inhumanly eat- 
ing what they had lately brought into the world." Epist. 16. 
ad. Princip. At length, Alaric availing himself of this dis- 
tress, assaulted the town, and took it. This happened in the 
year 410. Thus Rome, that proud city, the mistress of the 
world, which had subsisted eleven hundred and sixty years, 
had raised to herself the greatest empire that had ever exist- 
ed, fell a prey to an obscure Goth, who could scarce be said 
to be master of a foot of land. Rome was now exposed 
to the rage of a barbarous exasperated enemy. Therefore 
" wo to thee, O City that plunders, shalt not thou thyself be 
also plundered?" Isai. xxxiii. 1. The soldiers were allowed 
to plunder every thing, and to carry off the immense riches, 
which had been amassed there, and were the spoils of all the 
countries of the world. In consequence of such unbounded 
liberty being granted, shocking were the barbarities commit- 
ted by the soldiers to extort from the inhabitants their trea- 
sures. They not only plundered, but slaughtered the inha- 
bitants on all sides. That renowned people, that had given 
laws to all mankind, were now become the prey of fire and 
the sword. The number of the dead was so great, that they 
lay unburied ; and St. Jerom tells us, that Rome was buried 
in its own ashes. The august palace of the emperors, and 
the greatest part of the so much admired elegant buildings, 
were consumed by the flames. The historian Procopius even 
says, the conflagration was such that there scarce remained 
one single house entire. In a w r ord, Rome perished by the 
four greatest plagues that can afflict the human species, famine, 
pestilence, sword, and fire. 

Here then appears conspicuous the judgment of God upon 
ancient Rome, and how the Roman people, conformably to 
our text, were drenched with their own blood, in conse* 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 95 

quence of their forefathers having shed in their persecutions 
the blood of his saints. Here also we see fulfilled that pro- 
phecy of Daniel, where, speaking of the fourth beast, which 
represented Rome with its dominion, he says : u I saw that 
the beast was slain, and that its body was destroyed, and 
given to the fire to be burnt." Dan. vii. 1 1. 

The fall of Rome was equally an object of surprise and 
sorrow to many nations, on account of the extraordinary fig- 
ure it had made m the world. St. Jerom, who was then at 
Bethlehem, and learned the whole account from some Chris- 
tians who had escaped out of the dismal scene and come to 
him, laments the dreadful fate of that ancient and powerful 
city, and describes it by the following verses, with which 
Virgil describes the conflagration and destruction of Troy. 

Q,uis cladem illius noctus, quis funera fando 
Explicit aut possit lacrymis aequare labores 7 
Urbs antiqua fuit, multos dominuta per annos 
Plurima perque vias sternuntur inertia passim 
Corpora perque domos, et plurima mortis imago. 

jEneid, lib. 2. 
What tongue can tell the slaughter of that night 7 
What eyes can weep the sorrows and affright 7 
An ancient and imperial city falls, 
The streets are filled with frequent funerals : 
All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears, 
And grisly death in sundry shapes appears. 

Dryden's Transl. 

We shall beg leave to add one verse more out of the same 
poem: 

Venit summa dies et ineluctabile tempus. 

The fatal day, th' appointed hour is come. 

It is however to be observed, that in this terrible calamity 
and severe judgment of heaven, Almighty God showed a pe- 
culiar regard to his own people ; for Alaric had ordered that 
the two churches of St. Peter and St. Paul should be places 
of refuge, and that whoever retired there should be safe. The 
Christians therefore fled thither, and with them some also of 
the pagans, who by that means sustained no hurt. 

For three days, the city lay under the tyranny of the 
Goths; who then leaving it, passed into the provinces of 
Campania, Lucania, and Calabria, wasting the country, and 
loading themselves with the spoils of it. But being arrived 
at Consentia, a town of Calabria, as if the Almighty chose 
to drop the rod of justice he made use of, there Alarric sick- 
ened and died in a few days. Athaulph his successor, made 
peace with the emperor, and obtained for himself and his 
Goths a settlement in the southern parts of France. 



96 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

But the anger of God was not yet assuaged. The Van* 
dais, the Alans, and the Suevi, not content with having ra- 
vaged Gaul, had passed the Pyrenean mountains in 409, and 
entering Spain, another province of the empire, defeated the 
Roman armies there. The calamities caused by these savage 
people in that country were most dreadful. Besides the de- 
struction made by the sword, the famine became so excessive, 
that many did not scruple to eat human flesh, and even mo- 
thers murdered their own children to feed upon them. To 
these miseries was also added the plague, which carried off 
multitudes ; and the wild beasts accustomed to human flesh 
from the number of carcasses that had perished by the sword, 
famine, and plague, assaulted even the living and devoured 
them. This account we have from Idatius, a bishop of Spain, 
in that century. The three above-mentioned barbarous na- 
tions, after the reduction of the country, in 411, divided its 
provinces among themselves, and settled there. 

Attila, king of the Huns, a pagan people of Scythia, now 
Tartary, broke into different provinces of the empire with a 
prodigious army, called himself the " Scourge of God," and 
answered that name by his devastations and barbarities, de- 
stroying all before him by fire and sword. He was feared as 
a more fierce and savage barbarian, than either Alaric or 
Radagaisus. In the year 451 he invaded Gaul, and was 
there beat by the Roman army assisted by the Goths, Alans, 
Franks, and Burgundians. Upon his defeat he retired into 
Pannonia, which became the seat of the Huns, part of that 
country being called from them Hungaria. Attila having 
reinforced his army, marched into Italy, where he spread 
destruction. As he advanced in his career, he was met by 
St. Leo, pope, who addressed him with so much energy, elo- 
quence, and dignity, that the barbarian let himself be per- 
suaded to retire out of Italy. 

The Vandals had got footing in Africa from the year 427, 
and afterwards a fixed settlement there by agreement with the 
emperor. In 455, Genseric, their king, was invited into 
Italy by the Empress Eudoxia, through a disgust she had 
taken to Maximus, her husband, who forced her to marry 
him. Genseric had accepted with pleasure the invitation, 
and landed in Italy with an army of Vandals and Moors. 
Maximus, who had usurped the empire, fled ; and Genseric 
entering Rome without opposition, delivered it up to his sol- 
diers, who pillaged it for fourteen days, and then set fire to 
it. Genseric left the place loaded with riches, and at his 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 97 

return into Africa seized upon the whole remains of the Ro- 
man dominions there. 

Odoacer, king- of the Heruli, a people of that part of Ger- 
many now called Mecklenburgh, invaded Italy in the year 
476 with a powerful army. He defeated the Roman troops 
under the command of Orestes, took the city of Pavia by 
force, and exposed it to the pillage of his soldiers, who de- 
stroyed all with fire and sword. Here Odoacer was saluted 
king of Italy. He then advanced to Rome, where he deposed 
the Emperor Augustulus, and thus effectually established his 
own regal title. 

In Augustulus ceased the Roman empire in the west. 
The imperial title was now lost, the authority of Rome w r as 
extinguished, its dignity trampled under foot, and its extensive 
doniaA*. torn to pieces, and parcelled out among a set of bar- 
barous people. Spain was divided among the Goths, Alans, 
Suevi, and others. Africa was possessed by the Vandals. 
Britain having been before abandoned by the Romans, was 
subdued by the Saxons, who had lately assisted the Britons 
against their enemies, the Scots and the Picts. The Goths, 
Burgundians, and Franks, had erected their several king- 
doms in Gaul : and now at last Rome itself, with Italy, the 
fountains of waters, that had triumphed over the rest of the 
world, became enslaved to a barbarous king. In these latter 
times Italy, by the ravages of the invaders, had been depopu- 
lated, and the imperial armies had consisted chiefly of barba- 
rians, as Goths, Huns, Alans, Heruli, Suevi, and others, hired 
under the name of auxiliaries. These soon saw their own 
strength, and the weakness of their masters. They therefore 
shared out to themselves such morsels of the empire as they 
most relished. 

Theodoric, king of those Goths that were settled in Italy, 
got Odoacer treacherously murdered in 493, and himself 
proclaimed king of all Italy. This country from that time 
remained under the power of the Goths, till Justinian the 
Great, emperor of Constantinople, sent thither his general, 
Belisarius, who subdued a considerable part of it, reduced 
the Gothic power to a low ebb, and united Rome to the east- 
ern empire. Thus was that unhappy city tossed from hand 
to hand, and now become a member of that empire, of which 
she had formerly been the head. However, Totila being 
chosen king of the Goths in Italy, found means to retrieve the 
declining state of their affairs. He recovered a great part of 
the country, and in 546 invested Rome, which he blocked up 
9 



08 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

so closely, that it could receive no provisions. This occa- 
sioned such a raging famine, that the inhabitants were reduced 
to the utmost extremity of distress, feeding upon the most filthy 
things, even their own excrements. Belisarius attempted to 
send in provisions, but the attempt proved unsuccessful. The 
arm of God was still lifted up against Rome, and was to strike 
another blow, before the divine justice could be finally satisfied. 
By a piece of treachery in the sentinels posted atone of the 
gates, Totila was admitted in the night into the city, which he 
gave up to the pillage of his soldiers. The Goths spent 
several days in plundering the inhabitants ; and the senators 
and richest people were even stripped of every thing, that they 
were necessitated to beg their bread of the very Goths who 
had thus reduced them. The walls of Rome were thrown 
down, the public monuments demolished, the city was burnt, 
and Totila carried away with him all the inhabitants ; so 
that the place remained desert for above forty days. Procop. 
lib. 3. c. 12. lib. 4. c. 13. and Evagr. lib. 2. c. 7.— Thus 
was completed the destruction of ancient Rome. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE THIRD AGE. 

Having in the preceding chapter elucidated by plain his- 
tory, the brief enigmatical description of the fall of the Ro- 
man empire, which St. John gives us in the third seal, trum- 
pet, and vial ; we are now better prepared to understand the 
other, more explicit account, he has added in the 17th and 
18th chapters of the Apocalypse. The event is so interesting 
to the Christian Church, that he enlarges on the circum- 
stances of it, particularly on the ruin of Rome herself, as she 
had been the greatest enemy of Christ upon earth, the instru- 
ment of Satan in opposing the worship of God, and in fine 
the centre of idolatry. — Thus speaks our prophet: 

Apoc. chap. xvii. 1. " And there came one of the seven 
angels, who had the seven vials, and spoke with me, saying: 
Come, I will show thee the condemnation of the great harlot, 
who sitteth upon many waters. 

V. 2. " With whom the kings of the earth have committed 
fornication : and they who inhabit the earth have been made 
drunk with the wine of her whoredom. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 99 

V. 3. " And he took me away in spirit into the desert. 
And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast full 
of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

V. 4. " And the woman was clothed round about with 
purple and scarlet, and gilt with gold, and precious stones and 
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomina- 
tion and fllthiness of her fornication. 

V. 5. " And on her forehead a name was written ; a mys- 
tery ; Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and 
the abominations of the earth. 

V. 6. " And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the 
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I 
wondered, when I had seen her, with great admiration." 

St. John is here invited, ver. 1. to be a spectator of the divine 
punishment upon the great harlot, who represents pagan Rome, 
as we shall see presently. The invitation comes with propriety 
from one of the seven angels who held the vials of the wrath 
of God, as it was the function of those angels to execute the 
divine judgments on mankind. The Apostle is therefore taken 
up, as he thought, by the angel, v. 3, into a desert, that very 
desert where Rome stood. The country round that metropo- 
lis of the world was filled with towns and inhabitants while 
she maintained her power, but when the barbarous nations 
came upon her like furious lions, they laid waste the lands 
all around for many miles, they razed the towns to the ground, 
and thus reduced the whole country to a desolate desert. In 
this condition it was when Rome was destroyed, and thus 
nearly it has remained ever since, as a lasting monument of 
the divine wrath. St. John being placed in this desert sees 
the great harlot or the woman, sitting upon a scarlet-coloured 
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten 
horns, &c. and being struck with amazement at so extraordi- 
nary a sight, 

V. 1. " The angel said to me : why dost thou wonder ? I 
will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast which 
carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns ; 
which the angel does by parts thus : 

V. 18. " The woman which thou sawest, is the great city, 
which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth." 

This great city, which has dominion over the kings of the 
earth, can be no other but imperial Rome, which had con- 
quered almost all the kingdoms of the known world. Impe- 
rial heathen Rome is therefore evidently meant and represented 
by the woman or great harlot. And thus it has been under- 



100 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

stood by the ancient fathers and by the modern interpreters 
of the Catholic Church But furthermore, 

V. 15. " And he (the angel) said to me," says St. John: 
" the waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are 
peoples* and nations and tongues." 

The harlot was said, v. 1, to sit upon many waters, which 
the angel here interprets to represent the many kingdoms, 
states, and countries, over which she ruled. Again, the angel 
tells him, that the seven heads are seven mountains, on which 
the woman sitteth, v. 9, which is to say clearly, the seven 
mountains on which ancient Rome was built. These hills 
are, the Capitoline, Palatine, Aventine, Caelius, Esqueline, 
duirinal, and Viminal, some of which can scarce be deemed 
a part of modern Rome, as being now very little inhabited. 

The woman being now well known, we are next presented 
with a description of her person and qualities. She appears 
dressed in purple and scarlet, and gilt with gold and precious 
stones and pearls, v. 4. : the imperial lady is thus decked out 
in the most sumptuous manner, proudly displaying the great 
abundance of her riches, amassed from the spoils of the whole 
world. Purple was the usual robe of the emperors of Rome, 
and her scarlet shows her stained with the blood of the mar- 
tyrs. She holds in her hand a golden cup full of the abomi- 
nation and filthiness of her fornication, v. 4, a common scrip- 
tural expression for the abominations of idolatry ; and with 
these she had notoriously polluted herself. For Rome, not 
content with worshipping her own heathenish gods, she 
adopted those of all the countries and nations she subdued. 
She thought by this extravagant religious worship to render 
all the deities propitious to her, and to this she ascribed the 
success of her arms. " Thus it is," said the Romans, "that this 
city has extended her empire beyond the rising and setting 
sun, and beyond the bounds of the ocean, because she venerates* 
the gods she conquers, she makes foreign deities her own, 
and even raises altars to those that are unknown to her." 
Mm. Fel. Oct. In this manner were her idolatrous abomina- 
tions so multiplied, that there are said to have been 420 hea- 
thenish temples in that city. Thus writes a Roman poet : 

Sed quaB de septem totum circum spirit orbem 

Montibus, Imperii, Roma, Deuimque locus. 

Ovid. lib. 1. Trist. 
41 Rome, which from seven mountains overlooks the whole world, 
Is the centre of empire, and the abode of the gods." 

She even carried her superstition so far, lest any unknown 
* In the Greek text, " peoples and multitudes." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 101 

god should not receive due worship, as to build a temple, 
which she dedicated to all the deities, calling it on that ac- 
count, Pantheon, " the temple of all the gods." M This city," 
said St. Leo, "not knowing the Author of her elevation, while 
she ruled over almost all the nations of the earth, submitted to 
serve all their gods : and she imagined herself to be the more 
religious, as she rejected no kind of idolatrous worship." — 
" Insomuch, that whatever superstitions had place in other 
countries, they were all carefully transplanted to Rome." — 
Horn. I. Nat. in Ap. Petri et Pauli. In fine, such was the 
filthiness of her fornication, such the excess of her prostitution 
to idolatry, that she even deified her impious emperors, raised 
statutes to them to which incense was offered, and built tem- 
ples to their memories. 

Such was ancient Rome, the great Harlot, with whom the 
kings of the earth committed fornication ; and they who in- 
habited the earth, were made drunk with the wine of her 
whoredom, v. 2. She was not only intoxicated herself with all 
the delusions of idolatry, but she offered her golden cup all 
round to others. The unparalleled degree of power and 
grandeur to which she was elevated, raised her to such a 
height of admiration in the eyes of all nations, that they 
viewed her with the utmost deference and respect, and readily 
embraced whatever superstition she herself followed or re- 
commended. She had moreover the disposal of kingdoms, 
governments, riches, and dignities : what wonder then, if with 
such charms she debauched the kings and people of the 
earth 1 

This same woman is farther said to carry on her forehead 
the following inscription : a mystery : Babylon the great, the 
mother of the fornications, and the abominations of the earth, 
v. 5. Here is a mystery, or an enigma to be unravelled, viz. 
Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the 
abominations of the earth. The reader, we apprehend, is 
already prepared in great measure for the solving of this 
enigma. Babylon the great, is the great imperial city of pagan 
Rome. And she is the woman, as we have just above shown, 
who is the mother of the fornications and abominations of the 
earth. This is the explanation of the proposed mystery. But 
to make it more clear, that by Babylon the great is here 
meant idolatrous Rome, we appeal to the angel's words : The 
woman which thou sawest, is the great city, which hath king- 
doms over the kings of the earth, v. 18. ; which, as we have 
before observed, plainly points out the great ancient city of 
9* 



102 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Rome, that domineered over the greatest part of the kingdoms 
of the then known world. The woman therefore is the image 
of that city, and in the inscription on her forehead she is styled 
Babylon the great : consequently Babylon the great, is here 
the same with the city of Rome. In the primitive ages this 
figurative name of Babylon was frequently given to heather* 
Rome by the Christians, on account of the resemblance of the 
characters of those two cities, for their idolatry, and for their 
oppressing, the one the Jews, the other the Christians. St 
Peter dates his first letter from Babylon, 1 Pet. v. 13, that is, 
from Rome, as St. Jerom and Eusebius tell us. J< The appel- 
lation of Babylon," said Tertullian, "is used by St. John for 
the city of Rome, because she resembles ancient Babylon, in 
the extent of her walls, in her haughtiness on account of her 
dominion, and in persecuting the saints." Lib. Adv. Jud. 
" Rome is a second Babylon," says also St. Austin, " and a 
daughter of the ancient Babylon" De Civit, lib. 22. c. 18. 
Babylon the great is therefore sufficiently distinguished : but 
her character is completed, and she appears in plain colours, in 
what follows : " And I saw," says St. John, " the woman drunk 
with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs 
of Jesus," v. 6. This inhuman woman, this impious Jezabel, 
this cruel persecutrix, has drenched herself with so much 
Christian blood, which she has spilt, that she appears to be 
drunk with it. Who is this but idolatrous persecuting Rome 1 
Innumerable were the martyrs she put to death, throughout 
the vast extent of her dominions, and even m her own bosom, 
the city itself. Innumerable likewise were the other saints or 
holy confessors, who, though not slain, were by her condemned 
to Jose some of their limbs, and had an eye bored out, their 
tongues plucked away, or the sinews of a leg or a thigh cut, 
&c. or in fine, were put to tortures that tore away their flesh 
and drained their blood. We have seen the account of ten 
dreadful persecutions, which swept away an infinite multitude 
of Christians ; and all these persecutions were the work of 
the Roman emperors, and their substitutes in the provinces. 
It is then apparent who the woman is, that was seen drunk 
with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs 
of Jesus. 

After the description of the woman, we are then favoured 
with an account of the beast that carries her, v. 7. The woman 
being the image of the city of Rome, the beast on which she 
sits, naturally represents the Roman empire. And as the wo- 
man was styled the mother of fornication or idolatry ; conse- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 103 

quently Rome was the seat and centre of idolatry ; and in like 
manner by the beast the Roman empire is represented as the 
empire of idolatry. The colour of the beast is scarlet, v. 3, 
an emblem of its sanguinary disposition : and it is said to be 
full of names of blasphemy, or marked over with the names 
of the heathenish Roman gods, the greatest indignity that can 

be offered to the majesty of the Supreme Being. Then the 

angel, who promised to St. John to discover to him, v. 7. the 
mystery both of the woman and the beast, tells him : 

V. 8. " The beast, which thou sawest, was, and is not, and 
shall come up out of the bottomless pit, and go into destruction : 
and the inhabitants on the earth (whose names are not written 
in the book of life from the foundations of the world) shall 
wonder, seeing the beast, that was, and is not."* 

Behold a very mysterious explication of a mystery. But 
to unfold it : here is expressed the state of the beast, as it pass- 
es through different periods of time. The beast or the Roman 
idolatrous empire was, that is, existed for a term of time : then 
is not, or exists no more as the empire of idolatry, but is 
changed into a Christian empire ; which happened when Con- 
stantine the Great became emperor, suppressed the power of 
idolatry, expelled Satan, and established Christianity. But it 
is added, "and the beast shall come up out of the bottomless 
pit, and go into destruction : n the Roman idolatrous empire 
will rise up again under Antichrist from the bottomless pit or 
hell, because Satan will be loosed before the end of the world, 
and will revive idolatry chiefly by means of that wicked man, 
Antichrist, who will become master of the ancient Roman do- 
minions. And the inhabitants on the earth — shall wonder, 
seeing the beast, that was, and is not, and yet is ; all the world 
will be struck with amazement, at seeing the idolatrous Roman 
empire re-appear, which had been so long ago destroyed. But 
the reign of Antichrist will soon go into destruction, as it will 
last no more than three years and a half. This last period 
of the beast will be more fully explained in its due place. 
The angel proceeds in his explication : 

V. 9. " And here is the understanding, that hath wisdom. f 
The seven heads, are seven mountains, upon which the wo- 
man sitteth, and they are seven kings. 

V. 10. "Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet 
come : and when he is come, he must remain a short time." 

Let the understanding, that is endowed with wisdom here 

* In the Greek text is addded, "And yet is." 

tin the Greek, "here the understanding that hath wisdom." 



104 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

take notice : the seven heads, which are upon the beast, are 
seven mountains on which the woman sitteth ; we have already- 
observed that ancient Rome stood upon seven mountains. But 
besides, they, the seven heads, are seven kings, or seven Ro- 
man emperors who are particularly distinguished as the chief 
supporters of idolatry, and the most virulent persecutors of 
the Christian religion. These are, as we have already re- 
marked, Nero, Domitian, Severus, Decius, Valerian, Diocle* 
sian, and Antichrist. Five are fallen : we saw, before, the suc- 
cessive periods of the beast with regard to its existence ; here 
we have the succession of its heads. Five of them are fallen 
or gone; namely, Nero, Domitian, Severus, Decius, and Va- 
lerian, by whom the idolatrous empire was supported for a 
time ; one is, the sixth or last of that period, viz. Dioclesian, 
with whom the reign of idolatry falls : and so it happened, by 
the accession of Constantine to the imperial throne. Here 
then is interrupted the succession of the heathen and persecut- 
ing emperors for a. long space of time ; for the other is not yet 
come, the seventh Roman emperor, Antichrist, who will come 
only in the latter days ; and when he is come, he must remain 
a short time, three years and a half, as we shall see in the 
sequel. No notice is here taken of Julian the apostate, who 
broke indeed the series of the Christian emperors, and attempt- 
ed to re-establish idolatry, but was taken off after a short 
reign of less than two years — The angel continues; 

V. 1 1. " And the beast, which was, and is not, the same also 
is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruc- 
tion." 

Here is a new state of the beast, which begins at the fall of 
the sixth head, or Dioclesian, with whom the beast itself or the 
power of idolatry also fell. On this account the former sim- 
ple appellation of the beast, is now changed into the beast, 
which was, and is not, as being now no more what it was, 
having lost all power, and that power being transferred into 
the hands of Christian emperors. In this situation the beast 
is said to be an eighth king, that is, the Roman idolatrous peo- 
ple, though left without a heathen prince at their head by the 
death of Dioclesian and succession of Constantine, are never- 
theless to be reputed equivalent to an eighth pagan emperor, 
because they retain still their former attachment to paganism 
and their hatred to Christianity. And thus they are of the 
seven, as being alike in their dispositions to the seven above- 
mentioned heathen emperors. But they go into destruction : 
this idolatrous people will soon disappear, as we shall see, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 105 

either by being destroyed, or by their conversion to the Chris- 
tian religion. 

After the account of the beast and its seven heads, the angel 
proceeds to explain to St. John the meaning of the ten horns 
of the beast. 

V. 12. " And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, 
which have not yet received kingdom, but shall receive power 
as kings, one hour after the beast.* 

V. 13. "These have one design: and their strength and 
power they shall deliver to the beast." 

The ten horns denote then ten kings or ten powers, namely, 
the Goths, Huns, Alans, Vandals, Saxons, Burgundians, 
Franks, Heruli, Suevi, and Quadi, the chief of the barbarous 
nations that invaded the western Roman empire in the fifth 
century. These have not yet received kingdom or dominion, 
viz. at the beginning of this period of the Christian emperors, 
or of the beast that was and is not ; but they will receive power 
as kings one hour with the beast, that is, they will be command- 
ed by their own chiefs, and will engage by treaty to serve for 
one hour or a while as auxiliaries to the beast, that is, to the 
pagan Roman armies. Thus the Prophet continues to de- 
scribe the succession of the changes that were to happen in 
the Roman empire. The above mentioned nations come all 
with one design of relinquishing their own barren northern 
countries, and settling themselves in the rich provinces of the 
Roman empire. But before they accomplish this design, their 
strength and power they shall deliver to the beast : they effec- 
tually served as auxiliaries to the Roman armies, according to 
agreement, and helped to defend the empire against its enemies; 
as we have seen in the history above given. In this quality 
they served under the emperors Constantius, Valens, Theodo- 
sius, Honorius, &c. 

V. 14. " These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb 
shall overcome them : because he is the Lord of lords, and 
King of kings ; and they that are with him, are called, and 
elect, and faithful." 

All those different people, signified by the ten horns, were 
either pagans or heretics. Being therefore bitter enemies to 
the Catholic Christians, they in their irruptions wreaked their 
malice and rancour upon them : they plundered their towns 
and country, and destroyed them with fire and sword. (See 
the history above given.) And thus these barbarous people 
fought against the Lamb, or Christ, but the Lamb will over- 

♦ In the Greek, u with the beast," and so read St. Iraeneus and others. 



106 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

come them, in turning their hearts, and converting them into 
his votaries. And in effect, some time after they had settled 
themselves in the Roman provinces, a part of them were de- 
stroyed in the wars that ensued, and the rest gradually abjured 
their idolatry and errors, the pagans becoming Christians, 
and the Arians and other heretics going over to the Catholics. 
Among other writers, thus speaks Orosius, an historian of 
that age : " Who knows but Providence thus permitted the 
barbarians to become masters of the Roman provinces, with 
a view to effect their salvation? Do not we see that the 
churches of Christ, both in the eastern and western parts, are 
filled with Huns, with Suevi, with Vandals, with Burgundians, 
and with divers other people, who have been converted to the 
faith." Such was the victory of the Lamb; for Christ is Lord 
of lords, and King of kings : he is a Sovereign over all king- 
doms and states: he is Master of the human mind, and he can 
call to the faith whom he pleases. To work the conversion 
of those people, he employed his servants, the ministers of 
his Church, w r hom he called to that function, elected them or 
culled them out of the whole body of his people for that pur- 
pose, and they approved themselves faithful to their charge. 
Incredible indeed w T as the zeai exerted by the church in those 
times for the conversion of the above-mentioned pagans and 
heretics. To mention only a few instances : St. Remigius and 
others converted the Gauls in the fifth and sixth centuries. 
The Arian Visigoths in Spain were brought over to the Ca- 
tholic faith about the year 600, in the reign of their king Rec- 
cared. About the same time the Saxons in Britain received 
the Christian doctrine from St. Austin and his companions. 
St. Willibrod carried the faith into Friseland; and St. Rupert 
and St. Boniface with his associates converted many nations 
of Germany in the seventh and eight centuries. 

V. 16. " And the ten horns, which thou sawest on the beast," 
continues the angel: " these shall hate the harlot, and shall 
make her desolate, and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall 
burn her with fire." 

Here we see the general disposition of the above-mentioned 
northern nations, denoted by the ten horns. They will hate 
the harlot, Rome, the great capital of the empire, because she 
has shown herself a universal domineering tyrant, and has in 

[jarticular ill requited them for the important help they had 
ent her against her enemies. Thus stimulated with rancour 
and resentment, they will make her desolate, that is, they will 
invest her walls, they will preclude all succours both of men 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 107 

and provisions from her, and reduce her to the utmost state of 
distress. They will make her naked, by stripping her of her 
shining ornaments, her gaudy palaces, Egyptian obelisks, 
magnificent temples, theatres, triumphal arches, &c. and all 
her ostentatious pageantry. They will eat her flesh, by plun- 
dering her of her wealth and riches, with which she had fed 
herself by plundering the rest of the world. And lastly, they 
will burn her with fire. All which was done, as we have 
seen in the history above given.* — Thus was foretold by the 
angel, before it happened, the fate of that heathen imperial 
city, under the emblem of a woman, prostituted to vice and ad- 
mitting no control, because she is the empress of the world. 
But her jealous enemies will not rest, till they have found 
means to humble her pride, and to effect her ruin. They will 
first deprive her of every human succour and comfort, they 
will then strip her naked, devour her flesh, and when thus 
reduced to a skeleton, they will consume her by fire. 

That the greatest power on earth should be thus reduced and 
crushed by foreign barbarians, whom it had before held in con- 
tempt and neglect, may seem strange to our understanding, 
and not according to the standard by which we generally mea- 
sure human events. But this extraordinary fact is not to be 
ranked in the class of common human transactions: it was 
conducted by another hand. 

V. 1 7. " For God hath given into their hearts, to do that 
which pleaseth him: that they give their kingdom to the beast, 
till the words of God be fulfilled.' 7 

Under the divine direction, therefore, those barbarians acted 
in the demolition of Rome and its empire; and thus they exe- 
cuted what pleased him, or what he had designed. According 
to the decrees of his infinite wisdom and justice, the Almighty 
sent Nebuchodonosor to punish the guilty Jews, and Cyrus to 
do the same to the Babylonians. In like manner the northern 
nations became the instrument of his vengeance upon the Ro- 
man state for the guilt of its idolatry and persecutions. These 
agents had indeed no other view in what they did, than to 
gratify their hatred, their avarice, and other passions j and 
this the Almighty permitted them to compass, but for other 

Eurposes which they did not see into. But besides; in that 
itter period when, agreeable to the perdiction in ver. 12, they 
had received kingdom, that is, when they had possessed them- 
selves of the Roman provinces, and erected them into so many 

* Whoever has been upon the place, has seen sufficient proof of the 
■ame, in the miserable shattered ruins of old Rome. 



108 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

kingdoms, they were still allowed to give their kingdom or 
join their power and armies with those of the beast which was 
and is not, that is, with the pagan Romans then governed by 
Christian emperors : the view of which union was the defence 
of the country against new invaders. This was permitted for a 
while, till the words of God were fulfilled, till the time pre- 
ordained by Gt)d was come, for the final destruction of pagan 
Rome, and the rise of new Christian Rome in its place, and 
for the happy conversion of these barbarians and the remain- 
der of the pagan Romans to the faith of Christ. 

We have now seen, in the course of this 17th chapter of 
the Apocalypse, the different changes that successively hap- 
pened in the western Roman empire, to its total dissolution. 
We saw ancient Rome in its glorious state commanding all 
nations, upholding idolatry with its whole power, and oppo- 
sing and persecuting the Christian religion. This power is 
then lost, by passing into the hands of Christian emperors: 
and this was the first step towards the fall of the empire of 
idolatry. The body of the people still retaining their former 
attachment to paganism and aversion to Christianity, the next 
step was : the Almighty brought down upon them swarms 
of northern barbarous people, whom the empire was forced to 
admit into its bowels, and to avert its own ruin for a while, 
by buying them off and hiring their service against other 
such like enemies. But these northern savages retaining all 
along their first hostile disposition against the Romans, found 
pretences to turn their arms against them, defeated their troops, 
shared out the western provinces among themselves, and thus 
overturned the body of the empire. When in possession of 
the Roman territories, they then, for their own interest, and 
upon their own bottom, employed their forces in conjunction 
with those of the Roman people in defence of the country. 
But they could not rest satisfied, till they had attacked and 
demolished the head, that overbearing mistress of the world, 
the city of Rome itself. — This demolition was announced 
above, ver. 16, as to be; and in what follows we see it exactly 
executed. 

Apoc. chap, xviii. 1. "And after these things I saw," says 
St. John, " another angel come down from heaven, having 
great power: and the earth was enlightened with his glory. 

V. 2. " And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Baby- 
lon the great is fallen, is fallen : and is become the habitation 
of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of 
every unclean and hateful bird : 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 109 

V. 3. " Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication: and the kings of the earth have 
committed fornication with her: and the merchants of the 
earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies." 

Here appears an angel descending from heaven vested with 
great power, because he comes to destroy the great imperial 
city of Rome. He is also surrounded with a glorious circle 
of light, which illuminates the earth ; an image of the ma- 
jesty of God, who exercises his sovereign dominion in so stri- 
king a manner on this occasion. The heavenly messenger 
cries out with a strong voice, that all the earth may hear : and 
indeed all the earth heard of the fall of Rome, and confessed 
the hand that did it. He thus cries out: "Babylon the great 
is fallen, is fallen; idolatrous Rome is fallen. The angel 
struck her, and she is fallen. That mighty seat of power and 
dominion is fallen. That metropolis of nations, that capital 
of the world, is fallen. That great school of heroes, and pa- 
rent of conquests, is fallen and crushed. The long fixed abode 
of voluptuousness and luxury, for the merchants of the earth 
have been made rich by the power of her delicacies, is laid 
waste by famine and devastation. She had provoked the Al- 
mighty by her unbounded attachment to idolatry, and by her 
efforts to support and propagate it; for all nations* had drunk of 
the wine of the wrath, or vehemence of her fornication : and the 
kings of the earth had committed fornication with her; and now 
the hand of God has struck her. She had glutted herself 
with the blood of the servants of God: and he in his wrath 
has sent against her the executors of his justice, who have 
made her desolate, have stripped her naked, eat her flesh, and 
burned her with fire.' , Apoc. xvii. 16. See. p. 106. We have 
seen how all this was gradually executed upon her. Alaric 
took the city, plundered it for three days, and burned it in 
410. Genseric plundered it for fourteen days together in 455, 
and then set fire to it. Odoacer took it in 476, deposed the 
emperor, and extinguished the imperial title. Lastly, Totila 
in 546 burned it and reduced it into a solitude : " Totila," 
says the historian Procopius, "left not one human creature in 
the city." Lib. 3. de bell. Goth. And in this condition it re- 
mained for upwards of forty days. And thus it became like 
an accursed place, given up for a habitation of devils, and 
a hold of every unclean spirit, or of frightful spectres and 
ghosts, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird, as of 
owls, ravens, vultures, &c. 

* In the Greek " all the nations, 1 ' subject to the Roman empire. 
10 



110 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 4. "And I heard," pursues St. John, "another voice 
from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people: that you 
be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her 
plagues. " The people of God, that is, the Christians, are 
here told to leave the falling city, lest they should be parta- 
kers of her sins, and receive of her plagues, that is, lest they 
should be involved in the punishment and ruin she has drawn 
upon herself by her iniquities. At the time of Alaric's sack- 
ing Rome, many fled away, as we saw in the history, to St. 
Jerom, who was then in Judaea. Others fled into other parts, 
as the same holy father testifies. He also informs us, Ep. 7, 
that St. Paula and several illustrious Christian families had 
before left Rome, as by a particular inspiration, and retired to 
Bethlehem in Judaea. " The holy Pope Innocent," says Oro- 
sius, " was withdrawn by a particular providence out of the 
city, as Lot out of Sodom, that he might not see the ruin of a 
guilty people." Lib. 7. c. 39. We read that St. Melania, as 
if she foresaw the approaching catastrophe, had prevailed 
upon many Christians to retire with her from a city doomed 
to destruction. Hist. Laus. c. 118. In fine, -when the storm 
burst, the Christians that remained there, took refuge in the 
Churches of SS. Peter and Paul, which Alaric had allowed 
to be places of safety. Thus, then, as the Christians had for- 
merly avoided being involved in the ruin of Jerusalem by re- 
tiring out of it, conformably to our Saviour's admonition ; so 
here, many withdrew in the same manner from the scene of 
divine vengeance which so deservedly fell upon Rome. 

V. 5. " For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the 
Lord has remembered her iniquities." 

Her iniquities have called to heaven for vengeance, and 
God will bear with them no longer. 

V. 6. " Render to her as she hath also rendered to you : 
and double unto her double according to her works : in the 
cup wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her. 

V. 7. " As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in 
delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her." 

It is not to be understood, that the Almighty here tells the 
Christians to take revenge on their enemies, the pagan Ro- 
mans ; but by this kind of prophetic language he apprizes 
them, that Rome shall be drenched with a full cup of misery, 
double of that she had tyrannically forced upon them. And 
in proportion as she had proudly exalted herself, and lived in 
delicacies, or luxury and pleasure, so shall be the measure of 
her torment and sorrows. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Ill 

V. 7. " Because she saith in her heart ; I sit a queen, and 
am no widow, and sorrow I shall not see. 

V. 8. " Therefore shall her plagues come in one day ; 
death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with 
fire : because God is strong who shall judge her." 

Here we have a picture of the intolerable arrogance and 
pride of the woman, imperial Rome. She says in her heart : 
I sit upon my throne as a queen: I am empress of the world. 
I am no widow ; my power is fixed and established for ever. 
And sorrow I shall never see ; as no one can wrest my 
power from me, I am beyond the reach of sorrow and afflic- 
tion. That such were the sentiments of haughty Rome, we 
learn from the Roman authors themselves. Thus the poet 
Virgil introduces Jupiter promising unlimited and eternal 
dominion to the Romans : 

His ego nee metas rerum, nee tempera pono, 
Impenum, sine fine dedi. .#2neid. I 

To them, no bounds of empire I assign, 
Nor term of years to their immortal line. 

Dryden's Transl. 

Horace speaks in the same strain. Carm. Sac. Florus 
also writes, that " the gods had promised, the Roman state 
should remain unshaken and eternal." I. Tarq. Superb. 
Ammianus Marcellinus, in his history, calls Rome " eternal, 
to last as long as the race of mankind." 

For such extravagant presumption, which flies in the face 
of the supreme Creator and the Lord of the universe, he pro- 
nounces the following plagues or calamities shall come upon 
her together in one day : Famine, which was announced in 
the third seal; mourning, as described in the third trumpet; 
and death, or the sword, as denounced by the third vial ; and 
her faith shall be completed by fire, which shall lay her in 
ashes. All these calamities fell at once upon heathen Rome, 
as we have seen. They came from an all-powerful and irre- 
sistible hand, which threw her down from her throne, and 
reduced her to extreme pangs of sorrow and affliction, and 
then crushed her, for her intolerable pride and impiety: for 
God is strong who judges her. " Though thou be exalted as 
an eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars : 
thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord." Abd. v. 4. 

V. 9. " And the kings of the earth who have committed 
fornication and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep, and 
bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke 
of her burning. 



112 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 10. " Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: 
Alas ! Alas ! that great city Babylon, that mighty city : for 
in one hour is thy judgment come." 

Here the kings and princes of the earth, who have shared 
with her in her idolatry, cruelty, and luxury, are introduced 
as standing afar off, lamenting and bewailing the dreadful 
fate of that once great and powerful city, and which they now 
see in flames. St. Austin informs us, that " the people of the 
eastern provinces and the remotest cities mourned in a public 
manner on this occasion." De civ. lib. 1. c. 33. 

V. 11. " And the merchants of the earth shall weep, and 
mourn over her: for no man shall buy their merchandise 
any more. 

V. 12. " Merchandise of gold and silver and precious 
stones ; and of pearls and of fine linen, and purple, and of 
silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels 
of ivory, and all manner of vessels of precious stones, and of 
brass, and of iron, and of marble, 

V. 13. " And cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and 
frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, 
and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, 
and souls of men. 

V. 14. " And the fruits of the desire of thy soul are de- 
parted from thee, and all fat and goodly things are perished 
from thee, and they shall find them no more at all. 

V. 15. " The merchants of these things, who were made 
rich, shall stand afar off from her for fear of her torments, 
w r eeping and mourning. 

V. 16. " And saying: Alas! Alas! that great city, which 
was clothed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and was 
gilt with gold, and precious stones, and pearls : 

V. 17. " For in one hour are so great riches come to 
nought." 

The merchants and tradesmen, who had enriched them- 
selves by the luxury and extravagance of the Romans, are 
likewise here deploring the fate of the city, because there is 
now no more sale for their merchandise. We see here enu- 
merated the articles of their luxury, in dress, in ornaments, in 
furniture, in equipage, in the sumptuousness of their tables, 
&c. The emperors embellished Rome with magnificent 
palaces, theatres, &c, which were enriched with the most 
costly furniture and ornaments. The whole earth was ran- 
sacked to supply the extravagancy of that one city. Nero in 
particular built an immense palace, which occupied Mount 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 113 

Palatine, part of Mount Esquiline, and the large space be- 
tween. This palace was so richly furnished and so splendidly 
decorated, that it was styled "the golden palace of Nero." 
Excessively extravagant was also the luxury and profusion of 
some of the Roman emperors at their tables. Caius Caligula 
once spent, according to Seneca, for a supper, one hundred and 
fifty thousand crowns. Suetonius tells us, the Emperor Vi- 
telius would feast himself three, sometimes four times a day, 
spending ten thousand crowns at each meal. He had at his 
table dishes made up of the brains of pheasants and peacocks, 
others of the tongues and livers of rare birds, others of the 
milts of some particular fish. And so of other instances, 
but now, what an alteration in the scene ! all these delicious 
and expensive dainties are perished, and no more to be found. 
All the fine linen, purple silk, precious stones, pearls, &c, the 
costly dress of the emperors, empresses, magistrates, and citi- 
zens, are vanished. All the pompous train of equipage of horses, 
and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men or free men, is plun- 
dered and carried away. All the stately palaces, and shining 
ornaments of gold and silver, of marble, and brass, and ivory, 
&c. are now the fuel of fire. In fine, all the riches of this most 
opulent city of the world are in one hour come to nought. 

V. 17. "And every ship-master, and all that sail into the 
lake,* and mariners, and as many as work in the sea, stood 
afar of£ 

V. 18. " And cried, seeing the place of her burning,! say- 
ing ; what city is like to this great city ? 

V. 19. " And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried 
weeping and mourning, saying : Alas ! Alas ! that great city, 
wherein all were made rich, that had ships at sea, by reason 
of her prices : for in one hour she is made desolate." 

The masters of ships, their crews the seafaring men, all 
join their lamentations in seeing from afar off the conflagra- 
tion of that great city, which never had an equal. They 
mourn, and deplore the loss of the great profits they gained by 
conveying to her all sorts of rich goods, which she bought in 
abundance and at high prices. All this lucrative traffic is 
now vanished ; for in one hour she is made desolate. — In fine, 
the fall of this idolatrous, proud, and tyrannical city, is thus 
concluded : 

V. 20. " Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles 
and prophets: for God hath judged your judgment on her." 

* In the Greek, " and all the company upon the ships." 
t Gr. " the smoke of her burning. 
10* 



1 14 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 






Heaven, those holy apostles, and those prophets or ministers 
of the gospel and holy men, whom Rome had put to death, 
are here invited to rejoice ; because the divine justice is ac- 
complished in the ruin of that guilty city. — Upon which 
breaks out the following exultation : 

Apoc. chap. xix. 1. "After these things I heard," says St. 
John, " as it were the voice of much people* in heaven, saying: 
Alleluia ; salvation, and glory, and power, is to our God : 

V. 2. " For true and just are his judgments who hath 
judged the great harlot, which corrupted the earth with her 
fornication, and hath revenged the blood of his servants, at 
her hands. 

V. 3. " And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke 
ascended for ever and ever. 

V. 4. " And the four and twenty ancients, and the four 
living creatures, fell down and adored God that sitteth upon 
the throne, saying: Amen : Alleluia. 

V. 5. " And a voice came out from the throne, saying : 
Give praise to our God, all ye his servants : and you that 
fear him, little and great." 

From all that has been said, this text is sufficiently clear to 
need no further explanation. 

May we not now reflect with astonishment on the dreadful 
fate of this city. Rome, the greatest of all cities, the most 
opulent of all cities, the queen of the world, is struck down 
from the pinnacle of power, is laid in ruins, and left without 
an inhabitant. " How doth the city sit solitary that was full 
of people 1 How is the mistress of nations become as a wi- 
dow?" Jer. Lamen. i. 1. That mighty city, which seemed 
to be invigorated with more than human strength, and had 
carried her conquests almost to the bounds of the known 
world, was laid in ashes by Alaric ; and though afterwards 
allowed somewhat to recover, it was only to take breath, and 
then to be utterly laid waste, and her walls and fortresses to be 
thrown down. " The Lord has kindled in me," as it were, "a 
flaming fire devouring round about. — The Lord is become as 
an enemy : he hath cast me down head-long, he hath over- 
thrown all my walls, and hath destroyed my strong-holds." 
Lamen. ii. 35. Those northern nations, which she had before 
held in contempt and not thought worth a conquest, now as- 
sault her like ravenous wolves, and raging with rancour and 
fury, they strip her naked, and tear out her bowels without 
mercy ; nor is she able to prevent her fate. " All thy ene- 
* In the Greek, "of a great multitude." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 115 

mies have opened their mouth against thee : they have hissed, 
and gnashed with the teeth, and have said : we will swallow 
her up : lo, this is the day which we looked for." Ibid. ii. 16. 
44 Her adversaries are become her lords, her enemies are en- 
riched. — My strength is weakened : The Lord hath delivered 
me into a hand, out of which I am not able to rise. n Ibid. i. 
5, 14. Who could have imagined that stately city, the me- 
tropolis of the world, which had long been the admiration of 
all nations, and to which they resorted to view her grandeur 
or to share in her pleasures, would one day be reduced into 
desolation and made a solitude ? <4 Is this the city of perfect 
beauty, the joy of all the earth?" Ibid. ii. 15. But it was 
clear, she was the victim of God's anger, and her fate was just. 
For " the Lord had spoken against her for the multitude of 
her iniquities." Ibid. i. 5. 

Thus, then, in fine, fell ancient Rome like Babylon, but with 
this difference, that Babylon was never to rise again ; where- 
as Rome, when the anger of God was satisfied, was designed 
to emerge from her ashes : and though not allowed to recover 
her former temporal dominion, splendour, and riches, nor to 
rise in her outward appearance, scarce above the condition of 
a village, when compared to her former extent and multitude 
of people ; yet in her depressed state she is privileged with a 
higher dignity of another kind, of being not only a Chris- 
tian City, but appointed the head and centre of spiritual do- 
minion. 

We have now seen the full accomplishment of the predic- 
tions, contained in the Apocalypse, respecting the destruction 
of ancient Rome and its empire. But we must not leave the 
subject without observing, that the same had been before in a 
general manner foretold by the prophet Daniel, and by what 
hand it was done. Thus spoke that prophet to Nabuchodo- 
nosor: "Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a 
mountain without hands, and it struck the statue upon the feet 
that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. — And the 
stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled 
the whole earth." Dan. ii. 34, 35. Christ is the stone cut 
out of the mountain without hands ; and the Roman empire, 
the fourth and greatest of the empires, represented by the four 
parts of the statue, is here figured by the feet of that statue. 
Hence, the circumstance of the statue's feet being broken to 
pieces by the stone, shows that Christ was the hero, who 
should one day overthrow the mighty empire of Rome. He, 
by his superior might, threw down that great colossus, be- 



115 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

cause, it had arrogantly bent its power against him, and had 
endeavoured, by supporting idolatry, to obstruct that dominion 
which he himself claimed over the whole earth. Christ could 
suffer no competitor: " I beheld," says Daniel, " in the vision 
of the night, and lo, one like the Son of man came with the 
clouds of heaven, and he came even to the ancient of days : 
and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, 
and glory, and a kingdom ; and all people, tribes, and tongues 
shall serve him." Dan. vii. 13, 14. This Son of man there- 
fore, in vindication of his right to universal monarchy, crush- 
ed his proud enemy, Rome, and with it the empire of idolatry. 
He threw down the seat which Satan had so long held there, 
and he fixed in its place his own throne, to which all people, 
tribes, and tongues, were to bend. To show his supreme 
power, this divine monarch chose to convert the centre of idola- 
try into the centre of divine worship and religion, and there 
he placed his viceroy to govern his holy kingdom, and to su- 
perintend his people to the end of the world. " The saints 
of the most high God," continues Daniel, " shall take the 
kingdom : and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and 
ever." Ibid. v. 18 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE FOURTH AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH. THE OPENING OF THE FOURTH SEAL. 

Apoc. chap. vi. 7. " And when he, (the Lamb,) had opened 
the fourth seal, I heard," says St. John, "the voice of the 
fourth living creature, saying: Come and see. 

V. 8. " And behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon him, 
his name was Death, and hell followed him. And power was 
given to him over the four parts of the earth,* to kill with 
sword, with famine, and with death, and with the beasts of 
the earth." 

This seal discloses to us the rise of the Mahometan empire, 
which opens the fourth age of the Church, about the year 
622. 

• In the Greek text, "power was given them over the fourth port of the 
earth.*' 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 117 

Here appears to St. John a pale horse, and he that sits upon 
him is called Death. The pale colour of the horse evidently 
agrees with the character of the rider, who is styled Death. 
This rider is Mahomet and his successors. He is named 
death, because he destroys mankind, as it is here said, with 
sword, with famine, with death, and with the beasts of the 
earth. It is well known from history, what destruction and 
desolation Mahomet, and his followers, the Saracens, and after- 
wards the Turks, have made in the world. Their two first 
instruments of destruction here named, are the sword, and 
famine or devastation. The sword was appropriated to the 
second age in the second seal ; and famine was appropriated 
to the third age in the third seal. Their third destructive in- 
strument is styled Death, a general term, which in this place 
we apprehend means " Gunpowder;" and is in like manner 
appropriated to the fourth age, as it was invented in that period, 
and then employed by the Mahometans in a terrible man- 
ner. In fine, the last instrument of destruction here mentioned 
is. the beasts of the earth, that is, horse-troops or cavalry, 
which though generally numerous in the eastern countries, 
will be much more used by the Turks hereafter, as we shall 
see particularly in the account of the sixth age. 

It is said that hell follows him, that is, the infernal spirits 
accompany Mahomet and assist him, and his followers, 
through many succeeding ages. For, power was given to 
him over the four parts of the earth, or, as the Greek text ex- 
presses it, power was given to them, viz. : to death and hell, 
or to the Mahometan princes, and the evil spirits, over a fourth 
part of the earth. Who is ignorant of the number of na- 
tions the Mahometans have conquered in Europe, Asia, and 
Africa ? Who does not know, that in those countries they 
have almost extinguished Christianity, and planted by force 
in its room a sensual and abominable religion 1 How many 
fair churches in Asia, founded by the apostles themselves, have 
been ruined by the Mahometans, and now scarce a handful of 
Christians to be found scattered through the vast countries of 
Minor Asia, Syria, Persia, &c? What remains are there 
now of Christianity in Africa, where formerly it flourished 
so much, and where were seen to shine such great lights of 
the Church, as a St. Athanasius, a St. Cyprian, a St. Augus- 
tine, &c. 1 Those regions, having been subdued and over- 
run by the Mahometans, have received their superstitions and 
impostures. The same has also been the fate of that part of 
Europe, which has fallen under the dominion of the Turks. 



118 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

How could such wide encroachments be made upon religion, 
but by the help and co-operation of the devil? 

We must, however, here observe, that this prophecy, though 
already fulfilled in some measure in Mahomet and the Ma- 
hometan nation, will still be more fully accomplished, as we 
shall show hereafter, in Antichrist, who will be one, the 
greatest, and the most cruel, of Mahomet's successors. And 
hence appears the reason, why St. John is invited to the view 
of the present spectacle by the fourth living creature, which, 
as we have observed, represents the prophet Daniel; the 
reason is, because that prophet had foretold the coming of 
Antichrist and his great power, as we shall see in the sequel. 

Here then we discover the rise and progress of a power, 
which in the course of time will become the mighty empire 
of Antichrist ; the destruction of which is reserved to be the 
work of Christ himself, and thus the Lamb will show that 
strength, which he was said to receive, Apoc. v. 12. See p. 29. 

Let us here further remark, that in each of the four pre- 
ceding seals there appeared a horse, for his strength the natu- 
ral emblem of power or empire: that in the first seal the 
horse exhibited the empire of Christ ; in the second, that of 
heresy; in the third, the empire of Rome falling away; and 
in this fourth, the rise of the Mahometan empire, which, as 
no horse appears in any of the subsequent seals, we may 
conclude to be the last great temporal power that will exist 
upon the earth, an enemy to the Christian Church. 

The preceding Explication illustrated, by a brief Account 
of Mahomet and the Mahometan Empire. 

Mahomet was born at Mecca in Arabia, in the year 571, 
of poor parents, who were of the race of Ismael. His father 
was a heathen, and his mother a Jew. Being very young 
when his parents died, he was educated by an uncle, who 
put him to trade. He afterwards married a ricn widow, 
whose business he managed. Being arrived at about forty 
years of age, he commenced prophet, and set to compose a 
new religion. He said, that the true religion had been cor- 
rupted by the Jews and the Christians, and that therefore God 
had sent him, as his prophet, to restore it to its purity. 

He taught them that there was one only God, but no dis- 
tinction of persons in the deity. He exploded the incarnation 
and all the other mysteries of the Christian religion. He 
adopted circumcision, and prescribed abstinence from wine, 
blood, and pork. On another hand he allowed every man to 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 119 

have four wives, and concubines without restriction ; hut he 
reserved to himself the liberty of marrying as often as he 
pleased, and he is said to have had at least fifteen wives, and 
ten of them together. He exhorted people to take up arms 
for religion, promising a paradise of all the sensual pleasures 
to those who should die fighting in that cause. To make war 
against unbelievers he declared to be of high merit before 
God. He taught predestination, affirming that every man's 
fate was absolutely decreed ; and that the term of every man's 
life was fixed by God, not to be shortened by any accidents, 
or prolonged by any means whatever. 

These and other impious tenets, which he pretended to 
have received from the angel Gabriel, he procured a per- 
son to pen down, as he could neither read nor write ; and the 
book he called " Alcoran." When seized with epileptic fits, 
to which he was subject, he was then visited, as he divulged, 
by the angel Gabriel ; whose appearance being more than he 
could bear, occasioned him to fall into those trances and con- 
vulsions. Such was his imposture. His doctrine met with 
much opposition from some of his countrymen of Mecca. 
They called him a madman, an impostor, and said he was 
possessed by the deviL But his partisans increasing daily, 
the magistrate? of the town began to be alarmed, and suspect- 
ing he had a design upon the government, they resolved to 
take away his life. Mahomet, having intimation of their de- 
sign, fled to Medina. This retreat, which happened in the 
year 622, gives date to the Mahometan sera, called Hegira, or 
44 the flight." At Medina he was joined by new proselytes, 
chiefly thieves and fugitive slaves, who the more freely flock- 
ed to him on account of the latitude he allowed them in indulg- 
ing their sensual desires. Having formed a small body, 
he set himself at the head of them, as their chief and legisla- 
tor. He told them he was not sent to do miracles, but to pro- 
pagate religion by the power of the sword. He first attacked 
the caravans, that travelled through the country for trade; 
and meeting with success, he enriched his followers, and en- 
larged his projects. His little army being soon increased, he 
proceeded against the town of Mecca, took it, and put his 
principal opponents to death. He then subdued one tribe of 
people after another, carrying the sword of destruction through 
the country, and forcing the people to submit to him, and to 
receive his religion, or pay him an annual tribute. His pro- 
gress was such, that he was master of almost all Arabia, 
when he died in 631. His followers were called " Saracens/ 1 



120 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



or " Mussulman?." From his actions and his maxims, one 
may conclude, that ambition, lust, and cruelty, were the cha- 
racteristics of this famous impostor. 

Abubeker, one of Mahomet's first adherents, succeeded him 
in command, and taking the name of caliph or lieutenant, car- 
ried on his late master's conquest over other Arabian nations. 
Amron, one of his generals, having advanced into the territory 
of Gaza, and laid siege to that town, the governor asked him 
the reason of such an act of hostility. Amron answered, " We 
come by the order of our prince to propose to you the accept- 
ance of our religion. If you choose to embrace it, we shall 
be brethren : if not, pay us tribute, and you shall be our allies. 
But if you agree to neither, the sword must decide, and we 
shall wag-e war against you, to execute the order of God." 

Abubeker dying in 634, was succeeded by Omar. This 
caliph completed the conquest of the rest of Arabia. Then 
he invaded Syria, where he defeated the imperial army com- 
manded by Theodorus, brother to Heraclius, emperor of Con- 
stantinople. Heraclius fearing the success of the Arabians 
arms, quitted Syria, and went to Jerusalem, from whence he 
removed the holy Cross, with other valuable things to Con- 
stantinople. His brother hazarded a second battle, which he 
lost, and the Saracens became masters of Damascus, and after- 
wards of the country of Phoenicia. The caliph then divided 
his army ; one part of which he sent against Egypt, which 
they subdued and dismembered from the eastern Roman em- 
pire, of which it had been a considerable province, ever since 
Augustus's days. In the mean time, Omar himself took the 
route of Jerusalem, which he resolved to besiege ; and unfor- 
tunately the Emperor Heraclius had not in those parts suffi- 
cient forces to oppose him. About this time St. Sopronius, 
bishop and patriarch of Jerusalem, in a letter to Sergius, pa- 
triarch of Constantinople, wrote : " Pray for the emperors, 
(Heraclius and his son,) that God may make them victorious 
over all the barbarians: but especially that he maybe pleased 
to humble the pride of the Saracens, who on account of our 
sins have suddenly broke in upon us, and ravage all the coun- 
try with terrible cruelty and impious arrogance." 

Jerusalem, after maintaining a siege of two years, surren- 
dered to Omar in 636, upon condition, that the inhabitants 
should remain in the peaceable possession of their fortunes 
and liberty, and the free exercise of the Christian religion. 
However, some time after, this caliph ordered a mosque to be 
built on the very spot where had stood the temple of Solo- 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 121 

mon. From Jerusalem Omar marched to Antioch, capital of 
Syria, which for want of forces and provisions was forced to 
surrender. This conquest made him soon master of all Syria. 
And thus the Roman empire was divested of another province, 
which it had been in possession of for 700 years. In 639 the 
Saracens crossed the Euphrates, and over-ran Mesopotamia. 
From thence they advanced into Persia, defeated Isdegerdes 
the king, drove him out of his dominions, and seized upon the 
Persian empire. This caliph's progress was such, that he 
also subdued the greatest part of Armenia, with some other 
neighbouring countries. But in the midst of all this success 
he was assassinated in 643. 

Othman, of the race of Mahomet, was chosen Omar's suc- 
cessor. He carried on the conquests ; took Cyprus, Rhodes, 
and other islands in the Mediterranean sea. His generals in 
Africa defeated Gregory, the imperial commander in those 
parts, and extended their conquest all along the coasts on the 
Mediterranean sea to the straits of Gibraltar. Othman was 
murdered by his own rebellious subjects after twelve years 
reign, in 655. At this chief's death, the Saracen empire com- 
prehended all Arabia, Persia, Corasan, Diarbeck or Mesopo- 
tamia, Irac or Chaldaea, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Egypt, 
with extensive countries in Africa. 

Such was the amazing growth of the Mahometan power 
within the space of 33 years. This rapid progress of a peo- 
ple sprung from so mean and obscure an origin astonished 
mankind, as few examples of the like could be discovered in 
the annals of the world; nor even could be compared with it, 
the singular success of the first daring invincible Romans. 
In this manner was exerted the power of the sword in the de- 
struction of mankind, and in propagating an impious doctrine 
and rooting out Christianity. 

After such a course of extraordinary success, the Arabs or 
Saracens, instead of sitting down to enjoy their acquisitions, 
were animated to attempt new conquests. In 662 they invaded 
several other territories of the Constantinopolitan or eastern 
Roman empire, which if they did not reduce under their 
power, they at least brought from them a great number of cap- 
tives, and laid waste the country. In 712 and 713, they passed 
from Africa into Spain, of which they conquered a consider- 
able part, giving a sad specimen of their cruelty ; for they burn- 
ed the young people and the children, and spread terror over 
all the country. Here they made settlements, and were called 
" Moors/ ' because they came from Mauritania in Africa. We 
11 



122 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

shall pass over their incursions into France and Italy, and the 
barbarities they there committed. 

By so many conquests this new empire grew at last to such 
a bulk, that it became too unwieldly in the hands of one ruler. 
This did not escape the observation of the governors, who 
had been appointed by the caliph over the different provinces 
with large corps of troops under their command. Sensible at 
the same time of their own strength, and ambitious to be them- 
selves masters, they renounced their subjection to the Arabian 
caliph, and set up their own authority. These rebellions gave 
rise to civil wars, which divided the empire into a number of 
independent principalities. But notwithstanding the Maho- 
metan power was thus weakened, the several princes still re- 
tained the same ambition to enlarge their dominions. In that 
view, about the beginning of the eleventh century, some of 
them carried their arms into the vast country of Indostan, and 
reduced a great part of it. 

Afterwards others of these princes or sultans, as they were 
then called, made farther irruptions into the Asiatic provinces 
of the Greek or Constantinopolitan empire, where they ob- 
tained new acquisitions. They were aided in these conquests 
by different tribes of Tartars, or Turks, that came to them from 
the northern countries above the Caspian sea, and quitting idol- 
atry embraced Mahometanism. Aladin, sultan of Iconium in 
lesser Asia, had in particular received such considerable ser- 
vices from a tribe of these Tartars under the command of Oth- 
man, that he made this chief his lieutenant general. Upon 
Aladin's death, Othman obtained the sovereignty of his country, 
and thus laid the foundation of the Turkish monarchy at Ico- 
nium, about the year 1300. From him is the imperial Turk- 
ish family called Othman or Ottoman. He conquered a great 
part of Cappadocia and Bythinia, in which last province he 
fixed his residence at the town of Prusa, which remained the 
imperial seat, till the Turks transferred it to Adrianople in 1 404, 
and afterwards to Constantinople in 1453. Othman died in 
1326. 

The succeeding Turkish sultans inherited the warlike spirit 
of Othman their founder, and quarrelling with the Saracen 
princes, took from them in process of time many countries, 
which they hold at this day. They likewise continued their 
conquests upon the Greeks, that is, upon the eastern Roman 
empire, and attempted even Constantinople itself, the emperor's 
seat, several times, but were repulsed or bought off by con- 
cessions. At last Mahomet II. resolved to reduce that city, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 123 

laid siege to it in 1453, with a land army of 300,000 men, and 
above a hundred galleys, with ,130 other smaller vessels. The 
garrison consisted of no more than five thousand Greeks and 
two thousand strangers, the command of which Constantine 
Palasologus the emperor gave to Justinian, an experienced 
Genoese officer. Nothing was omitted by the emperor, to put 
the place in a good posture of defence. The city- wall being 
double and very strong, Mahomet prepared an artillery of 
fourteen batteries, procured some pieces of cannon of a prodi- 
gious size, that shot stone bullets of two hundred pounds.* 
These pieces had been cast by a Hungarian founder, a Christ- 
ian, who having offered his services to Constantine, and met 
with little encouragement, went over to the sultan. These 
horrible engines of destruction were fired night and day, and 
carried with them such force, that they soon made large 
breaches in the wall. Under such extraordinary difficulties, 
the besieged, however, made a vigorous defence, repaired as 
much as possible the breaches, and made successful sallies, in 
which they killed many Turks, and burned some of their 
works. 

Mahomet, finding that his fleet was hindered from approach- 
ing the town by a great chain that crossed the entrance of the 
port, and which was defended by ships posted there for the 
purpose, is said to have practised an incredible expedient 
suggested by a renegado Christian, of conveying seventy of 
his ships, by means of engines, over the land for the space of 
eight miles into the haven. On another hand, to encourage 
his men, he promised them they should share among them- 
selves the whole plunder of Constantinople, and that he who 
first mounted the wall, should be entitled to the government 
of the town. He told them there had appeared a stream of 
light over the city three nights together, which was a certain 
presage, that God had now withdrawn his protection from it. 
These promises and speeches animated surprisingly his troops, 
and he resolved upon a general assault. The emperor, who 
had intimation of the sultan's design, resolved on his side to 
make the most vigorous opposition and harangued so patheti- 
cally his officers and men, that they all seemed ready to 
second his intention. 

The dispositions being made for the attack, on the 29th of 
May, early in the morning, the general assault began, both by 

* See the Greek historians, Phranzes and Chalcondylas; of whom 
Phranzes was master of the wardrobe to the emperor, and in the town du- 
ring the siege. 



124 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

sea and land. The Turkish land forces advanced, under the 
fire of their cannon, with surprising resolution, and were re- 
ceived with equal resistance by the Greeks, who performed 
prodigies of valour. The ditches were soon filled with the 
dead bodies of the Turks that were slain ; and the emperor 
and Justinian exhibited such skill and heroic bravery, that 
the assailants were obliged to retire back. But the Janizaries 
coming to their assistance, they rallied, renewed the charge, 
and through the most violent fire of the besieged, and a storm 
of darts and stones, they gained the top of the wall, where a 
Janizary immediately planted the Turkish standard. This 
unexpected success inspired the Turks with new vigour, and 
damped the spirit of the Greeks. „ 

The Mahometans had likewise the advantage on the side 
of the sea. But what completed the ruin of the besieged, 
was their being abandoned by their general, Justinian, who 
finding himself wounded, retired without appointing any one 
to command in his room ; nor could he be prevailed upon to 
return by the most pressing remonstrances of the emperor. 
This retreat of Justinian so discouraged the Greeks, that they 
began to give way, and presently fled in great disorder and 
precipitation. The Turks immediately pouring in, like a 
torrent, at the breach, pursued the fugitives, slaughtering 
them, and pressing them so closely, that eight hundred of 
them were trodden to death. Among these was the emperor, 
who having placed himself at the breach, and made prodi- 
gious efforts to stop the inundation of the barbarians, was 
carried away by the multitude, and perished with them. 
Thus ended the reign of Constantine Palaeologus in 1453; 
and in him expired the empire of the Greeks, that is, the 
eastern Roman empire, which had lasted 1123 years from its 
first establishment by Constantine the Great, in the year 330. 

After the death of the emperor, the Turks met with no 
more resistance ; and those, who had attacked the town at 
the side of the port, having also made good their entrance, 
the Greeks had their enemies both before and behind, and 
were slaughtered without mercy. Then the ruffians trans- 
ferred their fury against the inhabitants, of whom they butch- 
ered such a number, that it is reckoned there perished in this 
sack of Constantinople, forty thousand Greeks, and sixty thou- 
sand were afterwards sold for slaves. On this unhappy oc- 
casion, the churches were profaned ; bishops were seen pri- 
soners in their pontifical habits ; and nuns, in their religious 
dress, tied as slaves. The holy vestments were used as trap- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 125 

pings for the horses. Meat was served up to the table in the 
sacred vessels, and chalices were used to drink out of. In 
fine, the barbarians gave a loose to all the human passions, 
and rioted with such licentiousness for three days, that they 
committed all kinds of excesses, and the most enormous and 
execrable crimes, that history has ever informed us to have 
been perpetrated on such occasions. 

Thus Mahomet and his successors added to their conquest 
many other countries, both in Asia and Europe, which the 
Turks are still in possession of. To pursue this history any 
further, seems therefore unnecessary, and we may conclude 
with observing in general, that the Mahometan power and 
religion have prevailed to a prodigious extent, taking in the 
greatest part of Asia, many spacious countries in Africa, and 
not a small share of Europe ; so that the event demonstrates 
that power was given to him, to Mahomet and his succes- 
sors, over the fourth part of the earth, that is, already over 
the fourth part of the old world. 

The sounding of the fourth Trumpet. 

Apoc. chap. viii. 12. "And the fourth angel sounded the 
trumpet, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the 
third part of the moon, and third part of the stars, so 
that the third part of them was darkened, and the day 
did not shine for a third part of it, and the night in like 
manner." 

At the sounding of the fourth trumpet, behold! the third 
part of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars, is eclipsed, 
or struck with darkness: a noble figure, indicating, that, while 
the Church of Christ is in the most flourishing state, and shi- 
ning like those glorious luminaries, a third part of it becomes 
unfortunately obscured by the fatal heresy and schism of the 
Greeks. This schism was first broached by Photius at Con- 
stantinople in the year 866. It infected all orders of Christ- 
ians, the clergy, the princes, and thi body of the faithful, sig- 
nified respectively by the sun, moon, and stars; and it lopped 
off nearly one third part of the Church, spreading itself from 
Constantinople over a great number of the eastern Christian 
countries. Hence it happened that the Catholic Church was 
robbed of a third part nearly of her members of all ranks 
and degrees, and was consequently despoiled of a third part of 
her lustre, which the prophet expresses by saying, that the 
day did not shine for a third part of it, and the night in like 
manner. 

11* 



126 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



It is plain the defection of the Greeks gave such a shock 
to the Catholic Church, and tore away such a large portion 
of her, that it may by a just metaphor be called a great 
earthquake. Apoc. viii. 5. See p. 35. 

At the opening of the fourth seal, we saw the rise of 
Mahometanism, which ushered in the fourth age : here we 
see the birth of the Greek schism, a second remarkable 
event, which distinguishes what may be deemed another 
period of the same age, commencing about the year 866. 

The preceding Explication elucidated by a succinct History 
of the Greek Schism. 

Photius, a eunuch, a man equally remarkable for his high 
birth, his abilities, and learning, was honoured with consi- 
derable employments at the imperial court of Constantinople : 
but he disgraced his talents and dignities by his base fraudu- 
lent practices and ambition. 

He was a favourite of Bardas Caesar, who was uncle to 
the young emperor, Michael, and governed the state for him. 
This Bardas having been reprimanded and even excommuni- 
cated by St. Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople, for his 
scandalous debauched life, resolved upon this prelate's ruin. 
Having much influence with his nephew, the emperor, he 
prevailed upon him to banish the patriarch from Constantino- 
ple. All means were then used to extort from Ignatius the 
resignation of his see, but he constantly refusing, Bardas had 
the presumption to nominate Photius, then a layman, to the 
patriarchate, in the year 858. But this nomination not being 
warranted by a previous election, and consequently contrary 
to the canons of the Church, no bishop would ordain Photius, 
till he had promised upon oath to acknowledge Ignatius as 
lawful patriarch, and not to act without his concurrence and 
direction. Nevertheless, in less than two months after his 
ordination he persecuted, violently all those of the clergy that 
adhered to Ignatius, and some he caused to be scourged, and 
others otherwise tormented. And in order to destroy Ignatius, 
he persuaded Bardas to commence an information against him, 
as having secretly conspired against the state. But nothing 
could be proved against the holy patriarch ; who nevertheless 
was removed to a prison in the suburbs of Constantinople, 
and there cruelly tortured. 

In consequence of such unchristian proceedings, several 
bishops of the province of Constantinople assembled and 
excommunicated Photius. On the other side, Photius, sup- 



, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 127 

ported by Bardas, in a synod of some of bis adherents, pro- 
nounced sentence of deposition and excommunication against 
Ignatius, who thereupon was loaded with chains, and banish- 
ed to Mytelene in the isle of Lesbos. To colour so unjusti- 
fiable a step, Photius sent messengers with a letter to Pope 
Nicholas, in which he signified, that Ignatius had resigned 
his see on account of his age and infirmities, and that himself 
had been chosen for it by the metropolitan bishops, and had 
been compelled by the emperor to undertake that heavy 
burthen : then he desired, that the pope would ratify both the 
resignation and election. As the pope received no account 
from Ignatius, who was not suffered by his enemies to send 
any, his holiness despatched two legates with orders only to 
take informations, and transmit them to him. The legates 
being arrived at Constantinople, Photius and the emperor 
found means to gain them over after a long resistance. Upon 
this a synod was held at Constantinople in 861, in which, by 
the prevarication of the legates, St. Ignatius, who had been 
sent for, was unjustly deposed, and afterwards imprisoned and 
most barbarously treated. Photius even advised the emperor 
to compel Ignatius to read his own condemnation in the 
Church, and then to have his eyes pulled out and his hand 
cut off But Ignatius, suspecting some sinister design was 
hatched against him, disguised himself, made his escape out 
of prison, and fled. 

Ignatius had by this time found means to inform the pope 
of what had passed at Constantinople. His holiness com- 
plained of the prevarication of his legates, condemned what 
had been done, and in his letters to the emperor and Photius, 
insisted that Ignatius was the lawful patriarch, and Photius' s 
nomination every way irregular and void. Then in a letter 
addressed to all the faithful in the east, the pope orders the 
patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, and the 
metropolitans and other bishops, to hold the same sentiments 
with himself in regard to Ignatius and the intruder. Photius, 
like a daring impostor, suppressed the letter he had received 
from the pope, and forged another, couched in terms favourable 
to himself; but the cheat was discovered. In fine, finding it 
impossible to make the pope propitious to his cause, he re- 
solved to wreak his revenge upon him : for which purpose, 
having secured the emperor in his interest, he held a council 
of his adherents at Constantinople in 866, in which he pre- 
sumed to pronounce sentence of deposition and excommuni- 
cation against Pope Nicholas : and this was the origin of the 



128 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Greek Schism.* He got the acts of this pretended synod, 
signed by twenty-one bishops; but he added false subscrip- 
tions of others to the number of about a thousand. Then he 
wrote a circular letter to the eastern patriarchs and bishops, 
containing a charge against the Latin Church. First, he 
found fault with some points of discipline which before his 
rupture with the Church he had approved in his confession of 
faith which he sent to the pope seven years before this period. 
Then he proceeded to accuse the Latins of an error in faith, 
for teaching that the Holy Ghost proceeds, not from the 
Father only, but from the Father and the Son : which tenet 
had been taught by the Greek Fathers as well as the Latin. 
It had been approved in the third general council held at 
Ephesus, and in several subsequent general councils, and was 
expressly defined in the (Ecumenical council of Florence in 
1439. By rejecting this article, Photius, and those Greeks 
who adhered to him, added heresy to schism. But as their 
separation from the unity of the Catholic Church began by 
schism, it has retained that name. 

Basil becoming emperor in 867, banished Photius to the isle 
of Scepe, and restored St. Ignatius to his see of Constantino- 
pie after an exile of nine years. At this prelate's solicitation 
with the pope and emperor, a general council of the Church 
was held at Constantinople in 869, at which presided the 
legates of pope Adrian II. who had succeeded Nicholas. The 
schismatical synod, which had been held by Photius as men- 
tioned before, was here condemned ; and he himself having 
been sent for to appear before the council, after a long hear- 
ing, was excommunicated. Then Photius, by the emperor's 
orders, was sent back into banishment ; but eight years after 
he prevailed upon the emperor to permit him to return to 
Constantinople. 

Upon the death of St. Ignatius in 878, Photius, with armed 
men, took possession of the Church of St. Sophia, and kept 
possession of the see of Constantinople, though repeatedly 
condemned by different popes, till Leo the wise succeeding 
Basil in the empire in 886, banished Photius into a monastery 
in Armenia, where he died, after having lived full twenty 
years in open schism. 

♦As the body of the Roman dominions had been divided into two 
empires; the western, having Rome for its metropolis; and the eastern, 
which had Constantinople for its capital: so the same division was usually 
admitted in the Church; the western part being often called the Latin 
Church, from the language used there; and the eastern was styled the 
Greek Church, likewise from its language. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 129 

After the expulsion of Photius, the breach between the 
Latin and Greek Churches was made up and harmony tole- 
rably well restored; though in several instances the Greeks 
betrayed a spirit of animosity against the Latins. The wound 
had not received a perfect cure, and in 1053 it was opened 
afresh by Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, 
who upon frivolous pretences and groundless accusations 
against the Latins, revived the schism, and drew into his 
party among others the patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem. 
The emperors themselves then joining in the cause, contri- 
buted much in the sequel to spread the infection through the 
eastern empire. And thus the Greeks were separated a se- 
cond time from the unity of faith, and from the centre and 
prop of that unity, the church of Rome. In 1269 Michael 
Palaeologus, emperor of the Greeks, alarmed by the victorious 
arms of Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily, and fearing being 
attacked by him, applied to the pope, desiring his holiness 
would prevail with Charles not to direct his arms against the 
Greeks. The better to gain his end, Michael promised the 
pope to come into measures for putting an end to the schism 
and re-uniting the Greek to the Latin Church. This propo- 
sal was agreeable to his holiness, as it ofFered what had been 
several times attempted, but in vain, by the preceding popes. 
They had repeatedly exhorted the emperors and patriarchs of 
Constantinople to recognize their ancient mother, and unite in 
faith. This salutary advice had been rejected, but now cir- 
cumstances appeared more favourable than ever for a union: 
in hopes therefore of success, a council was held in 1274 at 
Lyons, consisting of five hundred bishops, Pope Gregory X. 
presiding at it in person. Michael Palaeologus, emperor of Con- 
stantinople, sent ambassadors to the council to press the union 
of the two churches. They being arrived, and the council 
assembled, the emperor's letter was read, containing his pro- 
fession of the true orthodox faith; after which he added: 
44 We acknowledge this to be the true, holy, Catholic, and 
orthodox faith, and we receive and confess it with heart and 
mouth, the same as the Church of Rome teaches ; and we 
promise to keep it inviolably. , We acknowledge the supre- 
macy of the Roman Church," &c. Then was read the 
letter of the Greek prelates, written in the names of thirty- 
five archbishops with their suffragans, who nearly made 
up the whole number of the schismatic bishops. In this 
letter they expressed their concurrence to the re-union of 
the two Churches. In consequence therefore of these pro 



130 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

fessions and declarations, the union was concluded and rati- 
fied. 

This was a fair prospect, but soon vanished. The Greek 
emperor had used violent methods to extort the consent of the 
orientals, for the union ; and therefore for want of sincerity it 
could not be expected to hold. In effect, as soon as the 
Greeks saw they might have a protector in the person of the 
duke of Patras, who was an enemy to the union, they openly 
declared against it, and joining the duke, rebelled against 
their sovereign. Their party was strengthened by many of 
the emperor's own family ; and his nearest relations, whom 
he sent at the head of his troops against the malecontents, 
some would not act, and others revolted from him. Such was 
the animosity and insolence of the schismatics, that having 
assembled a synod, they presumed to anathematize the pope 
and the emperor and their adherents. This violent renuncia- 
tion of the union was afterwards further confirmed by Andro- 
nicus, who succeeding his father Michael in the empire, 
retracted what he had formerly done in favour of that trans- 
action, saying he had been compelled to it by the authority of 
his father. 

Many attempts were made in the sequel by the popes to 
renew the union, but they proved unsuccessful; till at last in 
1437 a fresh negotiation being set on foot between the Greek 
emperor John Palaeologus and pope Eugenius IV. it was 
agreed that a general council should be held, of both the 
Greeks and Latins, in the west, for that important object. In 
pursuance of this determination, a council being appointed 
and opened at Ferrara by the pope himself in 1438, the 
emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople, with twenty 
oriental archbishops and bishops, and a great number of other 
Greek clergy of distinguished abilities and merit, repaired 
thither. The patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusa- 
lem, sent also their deputies. Some inconveniences happening 
at Ferrara, the council was transferred with the consent of 
the Greeks to Florence. There all difficulties being discuss- 
ed, the emperor, the patriarch of Constantinople, and the 
Greek bishops, professed, according to the faith of the Roman 
Catholic Church, that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the 
Father and the Son, and that the pope was head of the univer- 
sal Church, &c. Then the re-union of the two Churches was 
agreed to, and a decree drawn up for that purpose. In this 
decree were contained the articles of faith above-mentioned, 
and other points which the Greeks had consisted, and which 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 131 

were now defined conformable to the Catholic doctrine. The 
pope, the emperor, and all the Greeks, as well as Latins, sub- 
scribed the decree, except Mark, archbishop of Ephesus, who 
alone among the Greeks refused to sign it. Then they all 
kissed the pope's hand, and embraced one another in token of 
union and mutual charity. Thus was this momentous affair 
concluded in 1439. 

The eyes of all Christendom had been attentively fixed on 
this council, and the happy issue of it diffused universal joy 
through the Catholic Church. What event indeed could 
possibly be more desirable, than that so large a body of 
Christians, separated for so many ages from the unity of 
faith, should at length be brought back, and re-enter into the 
bosom of their mother-Church? But this bright sunshine of 
concord and joy had only emerged from one cloud, presently 
to be intercepted by another. When the emperor and the 
Greeks arrived at Constantinople, they found the clergy of 
that city violently prepossessed against the union, and had in- 
spired the people with the same disposition. They reviled 
bitterly all those who had signed it, calling them traitors and 
apostates, and they extolled with the highest encomiums Mark 
of Ephesus, for his courage in refusing alone his consent. 
This obstinate prelate seeing the tide run thus in his favour, 
availed himself of it, to declaim and write against the union. 
In fine, the schismatics worked themselves up to such a 
degree of rage, that an inundation of libels soon appeared, 
fraught with virulence, calumnies, and falsehoods. So much 
opposition and ill-treatment those met with who had been at 
the council of Florence and assented to the union, made such 
impression upon them, that many lost courage, yielded to the 
stream, and gave up the cause. They even renounced what 
had been done, and setting up to oppugn the faith they had 
embraced, they greatly contributed to increase the party. To 
complete the misfortune, the patriarchs of Alexandria, Anti- 
och, and Jerusalem, stirred up by the schismatic bishop of 
Caesarea in Cappadocia, assembled a synod in 1443, in which 
they condemned what had been done at Florence, and threat- 
ened to excommunicate the emperor if he continued to adhere 
to the Latins. The deference which the orientals paid to 
these patriarchs, influenced them to receive their determina- 
tion, and to remain in schism. Russia likewise and Muscovy, 
which had adopted some centuries before the schism of the 
Greek, followed now their example, rejected the union, and 
imprisoned the pope's legate who came to propose it to them. 






132 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Thus was a third part of the sun, moon, and stars, smitten and 
darkened a second time, or at least remained eclipsed. And 
thus vanished the fair prospect of a noble triumph for the 
Catholic faith. 

A few years after this period, that is, in the beginning of 
the year 1451, Pope Nicholas V., a pontiff of remarkable piety 
and learning, grieving at the invincible obstinacy of the 
Greeks, and reflecting on the repeated labours taken for their 
conversion, wrote to them a letter, in which after mentioning 
the preparations the Turks were making against them, and 
the succours they might hope for from the Catholic princes, 
he then exhorted them in a pathetic manner, not to render use- 
less by their ingratitude to God these succours, but to open 
their eyes upon their past stubbornness, and to unite them- 
selves to the Catholic Church, according to the agreement 
made at Florence. He addressed himself in particular to 
Constantine Palaeologus, then emperor of Constantinople, to 
the following tenor: " That the Greeks had abused too long 
the patience of both God and men, in persisting still in heresy 
and schism; that, conformably to the parable in the gospel, 
God would further wait, to see if the rig-tree, after so much 
care and attendance in vain, would at last yield fruit: that 
if it did not within the space of three years, which God still 
allowed them, the tree would be cut down by the root, and the 
Greek nation entirely ruined by the ministers of divine jus- 
tice, who would be sent to execute the sentence already pro- 
nounced in heaven against them." We shall presently see 
the literal accomplishment of this prediction. 

The pouring out of the fourth Vial. 

Apoc. chap. xvi. 8. " And the fourth angel poured out his 
vial upon the sun, and it was given unto him to afflict men 
with heat and fire: 

V. 9. " And men were scorched with great heat, and they 
blasphemed the name of God, who hath power over those 
plagues, neither did they penance to give him glory." 

Here is the punishment of the Greek schismatics for their 
long and obstinate rebellion against the Catholic Church. 

In the prophecy of the fourth trumpet the sun was intro- 
duced to represent the principle of light, here it is employed 
as the principle of heat, which are known to be the two 
chief qualities of the sun. The vial is therefore poured out 
on the sun, to convert its quality of heat or fire into an instru- 
ment of divine vengeance against the Greeks. And in conse- 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 133 

quence, it is given unto him, the sun, to afflict men with heat 
and fire. In effect, this people suffered extremely by the de- 
structive fire of terrible engines of war, that were worked by 
gunpowder. We have seen, p. 123, that no less than four- 
teen batteries of cannon were employed to fire against the 
town of Constantinople, besides the ships of war; and that in 
this dreadful artillery were some such huge pieces of cannon 
as had never been seen or heard of before. With these were 
the walls of the city shattered to pieces, and the Greeks them- 
selves miserably cut off They were the more terrible, as 
cannon were at that time a recent invention, and but newly 
brought into use in the eastern countries. Hence it appears 
how the Greeks were scorched with great heat And thus the 
taking of Constantinople by the Turks, being the most fatal 
and finishing stroke upon the Greek empire, which was then 
put an end to, the vial here chiefly points at that event. 

"And they blasphemed the name of God who has power 
over those plagues. They blasphemed the name of God," 
that is, they spoke impiously against religion and its minis- 
ters. They uttered the most virulent invective against the 
Roman Church, presumed to condemn its doctrine, and to 
treat with ignominy those Greeks who espoused it. They 
would not even pray in the same Church with those who had 
signed the union. Two years before the siege, that is, in 
1451, the schismatics of Constantinople had written to those 
Bohemians, who had adopted the errors of John Huss, appro- 
ving the part they had taken against the Church of Rome, 
and inviting them to a coalition with themselves in religious 
tenets. The year after, perceiving that the emperor had 
embraced the union, and prevailed upon a few to follow his 
example, they rose up tumultuously, both clergy and people, 
and cried out anathema upon all those who had united them- 
selves with the Latins. This spirit of animosity against the 
Catholic faith and the supremacy of the Church of Rome 
continued to rage, even at the time of the siege„ Notaras, 
admiral of the Constantinopolitan fleet, seeing the people 
struck with consternation at the view of Mahomet's immense 
army, scrupled not to cry out, he would rather choose to see 
the turban in Constantinople than a cardinal's hat. In this 
manifold manner they blasphemed the name of God. And 
thus they persevered in rebellion against God, who has power 
over those plagues, that is, who sent those calamities with a 
view to punish and reclaim them. Instead of corresponding 
with the design of heaven, and taking admonition from the 
12 



134 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

scourge they felt, to renounce their errors, and associate 
themselves to the body of the faithful and to the centre of 
unity; they on the contrary hardened themselves in their 
obstinacy, nor would they do penance to give God glory. 
What wonder then, that the avenging hand of God, which 
they had armed against themselves, fell at last as a thunder- 
bolt upon them, and crushed them. In the general wreck, 
the fate of Notaras, the above-mentioned impious admiral, 
appeared somewhat conspicuous. After the town was taken, 
having surrendered himself to Mahomet, and presented him 
with a rich treasure to gain his good graces, he was never- 
theless received with contempt, and by the sultan's order was, 
with his two sons, beheaded. 

The third vial, in the preceding age, poured out the wrath 
of God on ancient Rome and the Roman empire ; the fourth 
vial here in like manner pours out the divine indignation on 
the guilty Greeks, which pursues them first through their 
several provinces, and then finishes their ruin at Constanti- 
nople itself, the seat of their empire, in 1453. The Russian 
nations which had espoused the Greek schism, and persevere 
in it to this day, have they not reason to apprehend a share 
in this vial, and being involved sooner or later in the punish- 
ment of those, in whose guilt they participate ? 

The Almighty is the disposer of kingdoms. He raises 
them up like huge fabrics for the execution of his designs ; 
and he equally throws them down, when they presume to ri- 
val his power, or to disobey his commands. " The Most 
High rules in the kingdom of men ; he will give it to whom- 
soever it shall please him, and he will appoint the basest 
man over it." Daniel, iv. 14. 

Of the vast empire of Rome, the western part had been sa- 
crificed, as we saw, for the extinction of idolatry ; and now 
the eastern part, having made itself the fortress of heresy 
and schism, becomes obnoxious to the jealousy of the Most 
High and undivided Deity, and therefore is sentenced to be 
equally a victim of destruction. It may be said, that idol- 
atry is an offence more injurious to supreme Majesty than he- 
resy or schism : we allow it, and for that reason Constanti- 
nople sustained one calamity less than pagan Rome, namely, 
that of fire, by which Rome was reduced to ashes, but which 
Mahomet prohibited, perhaps by superior direction from Con- 
stantinople. But, on another hand, if pagan Rome was 
burned, from its ashes arose up a Christian Rome, with a 
new kind of power and dignity peculiar to itself, which was 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 135 

to last to the end of the world ; whereas, though Constanti- 
nople was spared from destruction, it was enslaved by a bar- 
barous people, the greatest enemies to Christianity. The 
Jews had formerly rejected the preaching and miracles of the 
Son of God, for which reason they were delivered over to 
the sword of the pagans, their inveterate enemies. In like 
manner, all the intreaties, exhortations, and labours of the 
Catholic Church, to reclaim the Greeks from their errors, 
they rejected with disdain ; and on that account they fell a 
just sacrifice to the anger of God. He had waited many 
years, to give them time to resume a spirit of obedience and 
produce good fruit, but finding their obstinacy invincible, he 
cut them down like the barren fig-tree, as Pope Nicholas had 
foretold them. They refused the jurisdiction of a spiritual 
superior, whom Christ has appointed over his whole flock ; 
and they fell into the hands of tyrannical masters, from whom 
they have nothing to expect, but oppression, slavery, and de- 
spair. No kingdom can stand that opposes the kingdom of 
Christ ; for " he is the Lord of lords, and King of kings,' } 
Apoc. xvii. 14. and " a two-edged sword proceeds from his 
mouth," Apoc. i. 16. See p. 21. for the destruction of his ene- 
mies. 



CHAPTER VIIL 

THE HISTORY OF THE FIFTH AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH. THE OPENING OF THE FIFTH SEAL. 

Apoc. chap. vi. 9. " And when he (the Lamb) had opened 
the fifth seal, I saw," says St. John, " under the altar the souls 
of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the tes- 
timony which they held. 

V. 10. " And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How 
long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and revenge 
our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 

V. 11. "And white robes were given to every one of 
them one : and it was said to them, that they should rest yet 
for a little time, till their fellow-servants and their brethren, 
who are to be slain, even as they should be filled up." 

The Lamb having opened the fifth seal, St. John hears the 
complaints of those who had been slain for the word of God, 



136 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

that is, for the observance of the law of God, and for the tes- 
timony which they held* or for the testimony which they had 
rendered to Christ in preaching and defending his doctrine. 
These martyrs are seen under the altar in heaven, similar to 
the altar of holocausts, which stood in the Jewish tabernacle. 
On that altar the victims, called holocausts, were burnt, and 
their remains, the ashes, fell under the altar. In allusion to 
this, the souls, or precious spiritual remains of those whose 
bodies had been slain and sacrificed in the fire of persecu- 
tion, are here seen under the altar. Who are the martyrs 
spoken of in this seal, we are now to examine ; and it must 
be observed, that under the name of martyrs we comprehend 
all those who have suffered death for religion, whether they 
have been declared martyrs of the church or not; In the 
first place, it is well known that the reformation, introduced 
by Luther and other new teachers* has had too much share 
in the spilling of blood for the cause of religion. We do not 
pretend to produce an account of all the individuals that have 
suffered by their hands. The history of the reformation, in 
many cases, relates only in general the massacres committed 
on the Catholics. The Anabaptists in Germany opened the 
cruel scene, very soon after the birth of the protestant reli- 
gion. They were actuated w T ith such rancour against those 
whose communion they had left, that in 1525 they plundered 
the country, set fire to the churches and monasteries, and 
murdered the priests, monks, and noblemen. Amoldus Me- 
sov. Hist, des Anabap. Dupin. The Calvinists, on another 
hand, wherever they came, committed unheard of violences 
and barbarities. Dreadful was the tragedy in France, Hol- 
land, in some parts of Germany, &c. Nicholas Froumen- 
teau, a reformed minister, confesses that the Calvinists mas- 
sacred, in the province of Dauphine only, 256 priests and 1 12 
monks and friars. Des financ. de Franc. In Holland we 
find that nineteen priests and religious men were taken by 
the Calvinists in Gorcum, and after being made to suffer 
many insults, were hanged for their religion at the town of 
Bril, on the same day, 1572. See their History in W. Estius 
Batavia sacra. 

England also showed itself very forward in persecuting 
those who were attached to the ancient faith. Sir Thomas 
More, lord high chancellor, and Fisher, bishop of Rochester, 
two illustrious ornaments of the nation, and distinguished as- 
serters of the Catholic religion, were beheaded in 1535, for 
refusing to subscribe to the spiritual supremacy which Henry 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 137 

VIII. usurped over the Church in England. Besides, that 
despotic and cruel monarch put to death thirteen abbots and 
priors, about seventy-seven monks and religious persons, and 
many of the laity. Heyloris Hist, of the Reformation. 

Violent was the persecution in Queen Elizabeth's reign ; 
it was even aggravated with severities used in the heathenish 
times, as tortures were sometimes applied to the generous vic- 
tims, before they were allowed to receive the stroke of death. 
There have been found to have suffered death for the testi* 
mony they held in this reign, at least 124 priests and 57 lay 
persons : besides others who perished in prison. Under king 
James I., though the persecution somewhat abated, it did not 
cease. No less than twenty-seven persons of different deno- 
minations were put to death for the Catholic faith in this 
reign. Charles I. was naturally of too humane a disposition 
to incline to persecution ; but such was the iniquity of the 
times and the importunity of malevolent persons, that he was 
forced away with the tide, and ordered the execution of the 
penal laws against his Catholic subjects. Twenty-two were 
sacrificed in this period. The temper of the times was nearly 
the same during a part of Charles II.'s reign, and such un- 
happily was his compliant disposition, that twenty-four per- 
sons were put to death for the Catholic faith, and many died 
in prison. Thus the annals of England are stained with the 
blood of many of its own subjects, immolated to the cause of 
religion. See a particular account of these persecutions in 
the " Memoirs of Missionary Priests" fyc. 

We shall now remove the scene to a distant part of the 
world. St. Francis Xavier planted the Catholic faith in the 
idolatrous kingdom of Japan, in 1549, baptized great num- 
bers, and whole provinces received the gospel. In 1592 a 
persecution was raised against the Christians by the Emperor 
Cambacundono, who usurped the honours of a deity ; and se- 
veral Japanese converts received the crown of martyrdom. 
The Emperor Tageosama, one of the proudest and most vi- 
cious of men, revived the persecution in 1597, and three Je- 
suits, six Franciscans, and seventeen converts, were con- 
demned to be crucified. As they hung upon the crosses, the 
executioners, at a signal given, pierced their bodies with 
lances ; upon which they expired, and went to receive a re- 
ward " for being slain for the word of God, and for the testi- 
mony which they held." Their blood and garments were 
procured by Christians, and miracles were wrought by them. 
In 1602, the pagan emperor, Cumbosama, renewea again 
12* 



138 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH^ 

the bloody tragedy, and many Christians were beheaded, 
crucified, or burned. In 1614, new cruelties were employed 
to overcome the fortitude of the Christian heroes, as bruising 
their feet between pieces of wood, cutting off or squeezing 
their limbs one after another, applying red-hot irons or slow 
fires, flaying off the skin of their fingers, putting burning 
coals to their hands, tearing off the flesh with pincers, or 
thrusting reeds into different parts of their bodies : all which 
innumerable persons, even children, bore with invincible con- 
stancy till death. In 1616, Xogun succeeding his father 
Cumbosama in the empire, surpassed him in cruelty. By his 
orders fifty martyrs suffered together, of whom nine were Je- 
suits, four Franciscans, and six Dominicans ; the others lay- 
men. Twenty-five were burned, the rest beheaded. Many 
others suffered variously, being either burned at slow r fires, 
crucified, beheaded, or thrown into a burning mountain, or 
hung with their heads downwards in pits. In 1639, all Eu- 
ropeans, except the Dutch, were forbid entrance into Japan. 
Five Jesuits landed there secretly in 1642> but being disco- 
vered, after cruel tortures* they were hung down in pits till 
they expired. 

St. Francis Xavier, after having established Christianity 
in Japan, was desirous also of carrying the standard of the 
cross into the great pagan empire of China, but died before 
he reached it His religious brethren, the Jesuits, inspired 
with a truly apostolic spirit, pursued the design, and after 
many fruitless attempts, at last got admittance into the coun- 
try in 1583. They soon converted many, and numerous 
churches of Christians began to flourish in several provinces 
of China. But the inveterate enemy of Christianity, the de- 
vil, irritated at seeing his own power decline in a kingdom 
he had so long kept in captivity, set himself to work, in order 
to extirpate the Christian religion, or at least to stop its growth. 
He wreaked his first fury on Father Francis Martinez, a 
Chinese Jesuit, who having converted a famous doctor, was 
beaten several times, and at length expired under the torment 
Then he proceeded against the Dominican friars, who had 
likewise entered China, and converted great numbers to the 
faith. Four of them received the crown of martyrdom in 
the year 1647, and a fifth in 1648. Chunchi, who ascended 
the imperial throne of China in 1650, was favourable to the 
Christians ; but after his demise, the four regents of the em- 
pire put to death five Christian mandarins for their faith: but 
the young emperor, Camhi, coming of age, put a stop to the 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 139 

persecution, and gave liberty to the Christians in 1671. The 
Emperor Kien-long renewed the persecution in a most cruel 
manner. A great number of Christians of all ages and sexes 
were banished, beaten and tortured divers ways. Many 
priests and others died of their torments, or of the hardships 
of their imprisonment. Peter Sanz, a Dominican friar and 
bishop, was beheaded in 1747. Four Dominicans were 
seized, beaten with clubs, buffeted on the face with leather 
gauntlets, and after twenty-eight months imprisonment, were 
strangled privately in their dungeons in 1748. In the same 
persecution two Jesuits, after repeated tortures, were also 
strangled in prison. 

In Tonquin, a kingdom south west of China, also enslaved 
to idolatry, the Christian religion had taken deep root by the 
zealous labours of religious missionaries. But in the year 
1743 a persecution was set on foot, in which 150 churches 
were demolished, many converts were beaten on their 
knees with a hammer, and tortured various other ways, and 
two priests of the order of St. Dominick suffered martyr- 
dom for the faith. See the Histories of Trigault, Charle- 
voix, <fyc. 

There have likewise been martyrs within the two last cen- 
turies in other kingdoms of the East Indies, as in the Carna- 
tic, Tanjour, Medura, &c. And the new discovered continent 
of America has also been sprinkled with Christian blood. See 
Lettres curieuses et edifiantes. 

We have now seen who they are "that have been slain for 
the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." 
These martyrs are the objects represented under the fifth seal. 
As those who suffered by the hands of the protestants, appear 
to be the first In time, we may fix the fifth epocha, or commence- 
ment of the fifth age of the Church, at the year 1525, or at 
the rise of Luther's reformation about the year 1520. 

We must farther observe, that the blood here spilt in the 
cause of religion is a remarkable characteristic of this fifth 
age ; as, before that period, for eight or nine hundred years, 
few are to be found who suffered for the faith. 

We now proceed with the text. " And they (the above- 
mentioned martyrs,) cried with aloud voice, saying: How 
long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and revenge 
our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?" How long, O Lord, 
do you defer judging our cause, you, who are holy and must de- 
test the cruelties exercised upon us; you, who are true, and have 
told us, you will revenge the injuries done to your servants ? 



140 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

" Will not God revenge," says Christ, " his elect who cry to 
him day and night, and will he have patience in their regard ? 
I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them." Luke xviii. 
7, 8. The martyrs therefore prefer their complaint to the 
throne of God, requesting the judgment of their cause, not 
in a spirit of revenge, but that the justice and sanctity of 
God, who is holy and true, may be vindicated. 

And white robes were given, to every one of them ; a sym- 
bol of the heavenly beatitude, into which they are received 
in coming from their conflicts. And it was said to them, that 
they should rest yet for a little time, till their fellow-servants 
and their brethren, who are to be slain, even as they, should 
be filled up. They are told here to wait a little while, till the 
number be completed of their fellow-servants, that is, of the 
bishops, priests, and other clergy, and of their brethren, that 
is, of the laity ; who are to suffer martyrdom, as they have 
done. Thus they are told to wait a little while, that is, to the 
time of the persecution raised in France in 1791, &c. and the 
horrible massacres then committed of the clergy and others, 
in hatred to religion : to which may perhaps be added other 
persecutions that may happen in that or other countries during 
this fifth period of the Church. When thus the number of 
these victims immolated to religion shall be filled up, then 
the Almighty will revenge the blood of them all. 

What human oblation can be more grateful and glorious 
to the divine Author of the Christian religion, than the sacri- 
fice of holy victims slain for his sake ? And this is the ho- 
nour which the Lamb was entitled to receive, and here actu- 
ally receives. Apoc. v. 12. See p. 29. 

Before we proceed to the prophecy of the fifth trumpet, it 
is proper to take notice of what St. John prefixes to it. 

Apoc. chap. viii. 13. "And I beheld," says he, "and heard 
the voice of one eagle* flying through the midst of heaven, 
saying with a loud voice : Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants of 
the earth, by reason of the rest of the voices of the three 
angels, who are yet to sound the trumpet." 

Behold an eagle, a suitable bird on this occasion on account 
of its swiftness, flies through the midst of the sky, announ- 
cing with a loud voice a wo on each of the three succeeding 
ages, namely, the fifth, sixth, and seventh : by which we may 
understand, that greater disasters remain to be sustained by 
the Church of Christ in these three last than in the prece- 
ding ages. 

* In the Greek text, " an angel" 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 141 

The Sounding of the Fifth Trumpet. 

Ajjoc. chap. ix. 1. "And the fifth angel sounded the trum- 
pet, and I saw," says St. John, " a star fall from heaven unto 
the earth, and there was given to him the key of the bottom- 
less pit. 

V. 2. " And he opened the bottomless pit : and the smoke 
of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace : and the 
sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit. 

V. 3. " And from the smoke of the pit there came out lo- 
custs upon the earth: and power was given to them, as the 
scorpions of the earth have power : 

V. 4. " And it was commanded them that they should not 
hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree; 
but only the men who have not the sign of God on their 
foreheads. 

V. 5. " And it was given unto them that they should not kill 
them ; but that they should torment them five months : and 
their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he stri- 
keth a man. 

V. 6. " And in those days men shall seek death, and shall 
not find it ; and they shall desire to die, and death shall fly 
from them. 

V. 7. " And the shapes of the locusts, were like unto horses 
prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were 
crowns like gold ; and their faces were as the faces of men. 

V. 8. "And they had hair as the hair of women; and 
their teeth were as of lions. 

V. 9. " And they had breast plates as breast plates of iron ; 
and the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots of 
many horses running to battle. 

V. 10. "And they had tails like to scorpions, and there 
were stings in their tails : and their power was to hurt men 
five months. And they had over them, 

V. 11. "A king, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose 
name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon : in 
Latin Exterminans, that is, Destroyer." 

Here is a description of the rise and progress of the re- 
formation. This trumpet begins with announcing to us the 
fall of a star from heaven ; a very just emblem of the apostacy 
of Luther, who, in quality of a priest and religious man, is 
styled a star, but renouncing his faith and vows, in which he 
had hitherto virtuously lived, may truly be said to have fallen 
from heaven. This star fell upon the earth, that is, upon the 



142 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Church, compared to the fixed solid earth, because she was 
then in a state of peace. 

Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar, a bold man and a ve- 
hement declaimer, having imbibed erroneous sentiments from 
the heretical writings of John Huss of Bohemia, took occa- 
sion from the publication of indulgences promulgated by pope 
Leo X. to break with the Catholic Church, and to propagate 
his new errors in 1517, at Wirtemburg in Saxony. He first 
inveighed against the abuse of indulgences ; then he called 
in question their efficacy ; and at last totally rejected them. 
He proceeded to broach new opinions, contrary to the Catho- 
lic doctrine ; as, that remission of sins was not founded on 
contrition, but on faith alone; that good works were not ne- 
cessary for salvation ; and other tenets, which will occur in 
the sequel. He threw off his religious habit, renounced the 
solemn vows he had made to God, abandoned his cloister, and 
returned to the world. He declaimed against the supremacy 
of the see of Rome, and condemned the whole Church, pre- 
tending that Christ had abandoned it, and that it wanted re- 
forming, as well in faith as discipline. Thus this new evan- 
gelist commenced that fatal defection from the ancient faith, 
which was styled " Reformation," and which afterwards over- 
spread so large a part of western Christendom. Such was 
the dismal alarm sounded to the Church by the fifth trumpet, 
r The fifth seal exhibited to us only a particular interesting 
circumstance of the reformation, but now we shall see that 
the trumpet unfolds its whole history. 

44 There was given to him the key of the bottomless pit," 
v. 1. To St. Peter were given the keys of heaven, but to Lu- 
ther is given the key of the bottomless pit, or, hell. Alas ! 
what a woful difference, and what disparity is here indicated 
in the characters and functions of the apostle and the reform- 
er ! Christ assured St. Peter, that he and the other apostles, 
who had quitted all to follow him, should, at the last day, 44 sit 
on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel," Matt. xix. 
28. But Luther, instead of meriting such a happy pre-emi- 
nence in heaven, by having renounced all temporal enjoy- 
ments for Christ, unfortunately retracts the renunciation he 
had made, returns to the world, and therefore is cast down 
like a fallen star, from heaven to earth, forfeiting the glorious 
crown he had seemed before to grasp in his hands. To St. 
Peter Christ gave a super-eminent power and heavenly func- 
tion. 4l To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
ven : and whatsoever thou shall bind upon earth, it shall be 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 143 

bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 
earth, it shalt be loosed also in heaven. Matt. xvi. 19. But 
how opposite is the power and function of Luther ! namely, 
to open the bottomless pit, or infernal abyss, from whence 
flowed a stream of calamities that fell upon the kingdom of 
Christ upon earth. Our Saviour said to St. Peter, "Thou art 
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it," Matt. xvi. 18. But 
Luther boldly opened the bottomless pit or the gates of hell, 
to endeavour to prevail against that Church. St. Peter was 
constituted by Christ the chief pastor of his whole flock ; 
" feed my lambs, feed my sheep," John xxi. 16, 17, said Christ 
to him. But our reformer, by his own authority, declared 
himself head and ring-leader of a multitude of sectaries, who, 
like devouring wolves, have laid waste the fold of Christ. 

" And he opened the bottomless pit : and the smoke of the 
pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace," v. 2. Luther 
therefore opened the door of hell, and there issued out a thick 
smoke as from a great furnace. What can this thick smoke 
be, but a strong spirit of seduction, which had been hatched in 
hell, or had the devil for its parent, and which, at Luther's 
opening hell's door, immediately burst out. Impregnated with 
this steam, or spirit of seduction, he brought forth a doctrine, 
big with delusion and error. And as the steam he imbibed 
was hot, as coming from a great furnace, he propagated his 
doctrine with heat, violence, and insolence. " I now declare," 
says he, speaking to the bishops, " that for the future I will not 
vouchsafe you so much honour, as to submit myself or doctrine 
to your judgment, or that of an angel from heaven." (Pre- 
face to his book, Adversus falso nominatum ordinem Episco- 
porum.) He wrote a book which he entitled, " Against the 
execrable Bull of Antichrist :" meaning the bull of his condem- 
nation by pope Leo X. ; this book he concluded in these words : 
" In the same manner that they excommunicate me, I excom- 
municate them again." In another book, which he published in 
defence of the articles condemned by the above-mentioned bull, 
" Forbear ye," says he, " to make the war against the Turk, 
until the name of the Pope be taken xom beneath the heavens. 
I havesaid it." Nevertheless oth^j* instances of his violence 
and fury might be alleged. Such was his spirit of pride, that 
he made open profession of contempt for the authority of the 
Church, councils, and fathers ; whilst he arrogated an infalli- 
bility to himself, and anathematized all, whether Catholics or 
Protestants, that dissented from him. The other reformers 



144 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

imbibed the same hot steam, that issued out of the infernal 
abyss. They in consequence broached new doctrines, which 
they propagated and defended with such heat and vehemence, 
as to occasion every where seditions and insurrections, which 
they seemed to glory in. Their patriarch Luther openly 
boasted of it. " You complain," said he, " that, by our gospel, 
the world is become tumultuous ; I answer, God be thanked 
for it, these things I would have so to be ; and wo to me, if such 
things were not." 

" And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke 
of the pit," v. 2. The spirit of seduction, denoted by the 
smoke of the pit, produced a multitude of erroneous doctrines, 
that darkened the light of faith, signified by the sun, and the 
purity of morals indicated by the air. The light of faith, 
which is the word of God, may well be represented by the 
sun, the great luminary of the universe, according to that of 
Psalm 118, v. 105. " Thy word, O Lord, is a lamp to my 
feet, and a light to my paths." And as the air is the spring of 
man's respiration and life, it may be a just type of morality, 
which gives spiritual life and worth to all human actions. 
One principal design of the reformation was, to free men from 
two troublesome restraints, of subjecting their understanding 
to the mysteries of faith, and of being bound down in their 
actions to the strict laws of morality. The new teachers 
preached up a hitherto unheard of " evangelical liberty," as 
they styled it, by virtue of which they were masters to model 
their belief and practice as it suited their inclinations. In 
pursuance of this commodious doctrine, they dissected the Ca- 
tholic faith till they reduced it to a mere skeleton ; they lopped 
off the reality of the body and blood of Christ in the holy 
Eucharist, the divine Christian sacrifice offered in the Mass, 
confession of sins, most of the sacraments, penitential exer- 
cises, several of the canonical books of the scripture, the in- 
vocation of saints, celibacy, most of the general councils of the 
Church, and all present Church authority ; they perverted 
the nature of justification, asserting that faith alone suffices to 
justify man; they made God the author of sin, and maintained 
the observance of the commandments to be impossible. 

These and other errors were taught by most of the modern 
reformers ; and they all agreed in renouncing all submission 
to the see of Rome. 

In this manner were the sun and air darkened, or faith and 
morality obscured and perverted. For a few specimens of 
Luther's doctrine, take the following. " God's commandments 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 145 

are all equally impossible." De Lib. Christ. T. 2. fol. 4. 
" No sins can damn a man, but only unbelief." De Captiv. 
Bab. T. 2. fol. 171. " God is just, though by his own will he 
lays us under a necessity of being damned ; and though he 
damns those that have not deserved it" Tom, 2. fol. 434 and 
466. " God works in us both good and evil." Tom. 2. fol. 
444. " Christ's body is in every place no less than the 
Divinity itself." Tom. A. fol. 37. 

Then for his darling principle of justification by faith in his 
1 1th article against Pope Leo, he says : " Believe strongly that 
you are absolved, and absolved you will be, whether you have 
contrition or no." Again in his 6th article : " The contrition, 
that is acquired by examining, recollecting, and detesting one's 
sins ; whereby a man calls to mind his life past in the bitter- 
ness of his soul, reflecting on the heinousness and multitude 
of his offences, the loss of eternal bliss, and condemnation to 
eternal wo ; this contrition, I say, makes a man a hypocrite, 
nay, even a greater sinner than he was before." Thus after 
the most immoral life, you have a compendious method of 
saving yourself by simply believing, that your sins are re- 
mitted through the merits of Christ. As to his sentiments in 
regard to the pope, bishops, councils, &c. hear what he says in 
the preface to this book De abroganda Missa privata. " With 
how many powerful remedies and most evident scriptures 
have I scarce been able to fortify my conscience so, as to dare 
alone to contradict the pope, and believe him to be Antichrist, 
the bishops his apostles, and the universities his brothel- 
houses." In his book De judicio Ecclesia de gravi doctrina : 
" Christ takes from the bishops, doctors, and councils, both the 
right and power of judging controversies, and gives them to 
all Christians in general." Lastly, hear his modest censure 
on the Council of Constance and those that composed it. " All 
John Huss's articles were condemned at Constance by Anti- 
christ and his apostles," meaning the pope and bishops, " in 
that synod of Satan, made up of most wicked sophisters ; and 
you, most holy vicar of Christ, I tell you plainly to your face, 
that all John Huss's condemned doctrines are evangelical 
and Christian, but all yours are impious and diabolical." 
Many more instances might be brought of the head-re- 
former's extravagant opinions and assertions, but these may 
suffice. 

To enumerate the errors of all the reformers would exceed 
the limits of this work, I shall therefore only add the principal 
heads of the doctrine of Calvin and the Calvinists, viz. 1. 
13 



146 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

That baptism is not necessary for salvation. 2. Likewise, 
good works are not necessary. 3. Man has no free will. 4. 
Adam could not avoid his fall. 5. A great part of mankind 
are created to be damned, independently of their demerits. 6. 
Man is justified by faith alone : and that justification, once 
obtained, cannot be lost, even by the most atrocious crimes. 
7. The true faithful are also infallibly certain of their sal- 
vation. 8. The Eucharist is no more than a figure of the 
Body and Blood of Christ. — Thus was the whole system of 
faith and morality overturned. 

The above short detail shows a palpable reason why our 
modern apostles set such a real value on their new discovered 
principle of " evangelical liberty," as it opened to them so 
spacious a lawn, in which they could range at their ease. 
The hardships of mortification, the painful restrictions of 
penance, were not to be admitted into the Elysian fields : the 
sensual appetities claimed here their right abode. All Church 
authority was banished from this realm of liberty. They 
professed themselves judges of every thing relating to religion, 
and its foundations and fences they levelled at their pleasure. 
Tradition they totally abolished ; and though they could' not 
reject the whole canon of the scriptures, as being universally 
acknowledged to be the word of God, they had however the 
presumption to expunge some books of it that did not coincide 
with their own opinions : and the rest they assumed a right to 
explain as they thought fit. Hence followed various arbitrary 
explications of the most important texts, which became so many 
fountains that issued out troubled streams of doctrine. But 
this was a natural consequence. For, if a man consults only 
himself; his passions and conceits will certainly dictate to him 
what may serve for their own gratification, and which must of 
course contradict the doctrine of revelation, which tends to 
bridle them. What wonder then, if the comments and glosses 
of these new interpreters have so much obscured and dis- 
figured the face of religion ? Moreover, to complete the work, 
and to conciliate people's minds more easily to their inno- 
vations, they pretended to charge the old doctrines with absur- 
dities and errors, as if Christ had suffered his Church to be 
totally eclipsed and lost ; whereas he had told his apostles, 
and in them their successors, the pastors of his church : 
41 Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation 
of the world." Matt, xxviii. 20. But it plainly appeared 
that the objected absurdities and errors had no reality, and 
were no more than misrepresentations contrived on purpose. 



IIISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 147 

In this view how many notorious falsehoods were published, 
which are still kept up, concerning the Catholic worship of 
relics and images, concerning confession of sins, indulgences, 
purgatory, &c. ? And thus again they endeavoured to throw 
a cloud over the face of the Catholic religion. From what 
has been said it appears then fully, how the sun and the air 
were darkened with the smoke of the pit. 

" And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts 
upon the earth," ver. 3. From the smoke of the abyss is 
generated a swarm of locusts that disperse themselves over the 
earth ; the meaning of which is, that the spirit of seduction 
denoted by the smoke of the abyss, raised up a number of 
sectaries or reformers, as they called themselves, who spread 
themselves into all parts of the Catholic Church. Luther 
was first intoxicated with this delusive spirit, which presently 
after insinuated itself into Carlostadius, Zuinglius, Oecolam- 
padius, Melancton, Bucer, Muncer, Calvin, Henry VIII. of 
England, Cranmer, and many others. Being of the nature of 
locusts, these reformers were unconnected, acknowledged no 
subordination among themselves, and even quarrelled with 
one another. They all taught different doctrines, and scarce 
agreed in any other thing, bat in their endeavours to destroy 
the ancient faith, and corrupt the Christian principles of mo- 
rality. In this indeed they jointly exhibited a vehement 
eagerness equal to the voracity of locusts. " Heretics are 
compared to locusts," says St. Jerome, " because locusts are a 
species of insects extremely hurtful to mankind, as they occa- 
sion famine, eat up the harvest, and even strip the trees and 
the vines." In cap. 13. Osee. The new doctrines, being 
calculated to gratify the vicious inclinations of the human 
heart, diffused themselves with the rapidity of an inundation. 
Frederick, elector of Saxony, John Frederick, his successor, 
and Philip, landgrave of Hesse, became Luther's disciples, 
and their respective states followed their example. Gustavus 
Ericus, king of Sweden, and Christiern III., king of Den- 
mark, declared also in favour of Lutheran ism. It likewise 
got footing in Hungary, and spread itself by degrees into 
Brandenburg, Pomerania, Mecklenburgh, Holstein, &c. Po- 
land, after tasting of a great variety of doctrines, could pitch 
upon none, but left to every individual the liberty of choosing 
for himself Four cantons of Switzerland received Zuin- 
glius's Creed, at the conference held at Bern, in 1528. These 
cantons afterwards making alliance with Geneva, exchanged 
their doctrine for that of Calvin. And now of the thirteen 



H8 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

cantons, that compose the states of Switzerland, six of them 
are protestant. Muncer, a disciple of Luther, deserting from 
his master, set up for doctor himself, and with Nicholas 
Stark gave birth to the sect of anabaptists, which was propa- 
gated in Suabia and other provinces of Germany, in the Low 
Countries, &c. Calvin, a man of bold obstinate spirit, artful 
and indefatigable in his labours, in imitation of Luther, com- 
menced also reformer. He procured his new tenets to be 
received at Geneva in 1541. After his death the same doc- 
trine was carried on by his successor Beza, and it made its 
way into several provinces of France, where its professors 
obtained the appellation of Huguenots. It insinuated itself into 
some parts of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, and became the 
established religion of Holland. Calvinism was also im- 
ported by John Knox into Scotland, where, under the name of 
presbyterianism, it took deep root, and overspread the whole 
face of that kingdom. In fine, to such a degree prevailed the 
licentious spirit of dogmatizing, that every one thought he had 
an equal right with Luther, Zuinglius, or any other, to inter- 
pret the scriptures, and form his own creed. On this princi- 
ple the different sects split into a multitude of parties, following 
different heads, who every day coined new religions. Thus, 
the body of anabaptists alone became divided into at least 
thirty-two different sects. By these divisions the principal 
leaders found themselves frustrated in the attachment of their 
proselytes, who upon every occasion left them to follow new 
teachers. Though this defection was no more than they 
themselves had given example of, in relinquishing the faith of 
their ancestors and the Catholic communion, they were never- 
theless greatly mortified at it, and published their complaints. 
Such was even the case with Luther, the great author and 
patriarch of the reformation ; and he resented so much the 
freedom taken by Carlostadius, Oecolampadius, and Zuin- 
glius, in preaching a different doctrine from his own, that he 
reviled them, according to his custom, in the most virulent 
terms. Some time after, when the reforming spirit had almost 
reached its full growth, thus wrote Dudithius, a learned pro- 
testant divine, in his epistle to Beza. " What sort of people 
are our protestants, straggling to and fro, and carried about 
with every wind of doctrine, sometimes to this side, sometimes 
to that ? You may perhaps know what their sentiments in 
matters of religion are to-day : but you can never certainly tell 
what they will be to-morrow. In what article of religion do 
these churches agree which have cast off the bishop of Rome? 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 149 

Examine all from top to bottom, and you will scarce find one 
thing affirmed by one, which was not immediately condemned 
by another for wicked doctrine." The same confusion of 
opinions was described by an English protestant, the learned 
Dr. Walton, about the middle of last century, in his preface 
to his polyglott, where he says, " Aristarchus heretofore 
could scarce find seven wise men in Greece ; but with us, 
scarce are to be found so many idiots. For all are doctors, 
all are divinely learned ; there is not so much as the meanest 
fanatic or jackpudding, who does not give you his own dreams 
for the word of God." 

But among the reformed nations none drank more deeply 
of the cup of error, than England. This country had been, 
during many centuries, conspicuous in the Christian world 
for the orthodoxy of its belief, as also for the number of saints 
it had sent to heaven. But by a misfortune never to be suffi- 
ciently lamented, and by unfathomable judgment from above, 
its Church shared a fate which seemed the least to threaten 
it. The lust and avarice of one despotic sovereign threw 
down the fair edifice, and tore it off from the rock on which it 
had hitherto stood, Henry VI1L, at first a valiant asserter of 
the Catholic faith against Luther, giving way to the violent 
passions which he had not resolution to curb, renounced the 
supreme jurisdiction which the pope had always held in the 
Church, presumed to arrogate to himself that power in his 
own dominions, and thus gave a deadly blow to religion. He 
then forced his subjects into the same fatal defection, and thus 
opened the way to his successors to pour in upon the kingdom 
the whole spirit of the reformation. Once introduced, it soon 
overspread the land. Being, from its nature, limited by no 
fixed principle, but depending upon the arbitrary determination 
of every private man, it has since taken a hundred different 
shapes, in Protestants, Presbyterians, Anabaptists, Quakers, 
Arians, Moravians, Hutchinsonians, Methodists, and many 
more. Such was the swarm of locusts that eclipsed the face 
of religion, which had long shone so bright in that island. 

In taking a general view of the infinite variety of new 
teachers that sprung up at this time, jarring among them- 
selves, corrupting the genuine sources of faith and morals, 
and deluding their fellow-creatures with poisonous novelties, 
one cannot help observing with how great propriety they had 
been long before described by the Apostle St. Jude in the fol- 
lowing manner : " These are clouds without water, which 
are carried about bv winds; trees of the autumn, unfruitful, 
13* 



150 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

twice dead, plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the sea, 
foaming out their own confusion ; wandering stars. 35 Epist. 
12, 13. They are first compared to clouds without w T ater, or 
that promise w r ater, but are carried about by winds without 
giving any ; that is, these new teachers promise genuine apos- 
tolical doctrine, which they call reformation, but it is mere de- 
ceit. They are termed autumnal trees, unfruitful, twice dead, 
plucked up by the roots, that is, they are become barren Chris- 
tians, bringing forth no fruit, twice dead by the want of faith 
and morality. Like dead trees plucked up from the earth, 
they are banished out of the Church, from w T hich they ought to 
receive their spiritual life and nourishment. They are like 
the raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion : 
they are turbulent, proud, rebellious against their mother, the 
Church, which they furiously assault with slander, calumny, 
and blasphemy. Lastly, like wandering stars, they wander 
about in mazes of imaginary knowledge, passing from one 
error to another without knowing where to fix their steps. 

" And power was given to them, (the locusts,) as the scor- 
pions of the earth have power," ver. 3. These locusts have 
peculiar qualities, not to be found in the common locusts. 
They have the power of scorpions, that is, a power of sting- 
ing. This allegory shows, that the reformed sects, here sig- 
nified by the locusts, w 7 ere empowered, by the divine permis- 
sion, to sting or violently to torment those of the Catholic 
communion, w r hom they had left, and against whom they 
conceived and still retain a rancorous animosity. 

" And it was commanded them, (the locusts,) that they 
should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, 
nor any tree: but only the men who have not the sign of 
God on their foreheads," ver. 4. The locusts, or the sects of 
protestants, are not allowed by Almighty God to hurt the grass 
of the earth, that is, the whole body of the common faithful ; 
nor every green thing, as the Greek and Latin texts express 
it, that is, not all the vegetable greens that shoot up higher 
than the grass, denoting the princes, magistrates, and others 
superior in dignity to the commonalty ; nor are they allowed 
to hurt every tree, or all the pastors with their clergy. In 
short they are not permitted to pervert the whole of any of 
the three different classes of the faithful, namely, ministers of 
religion or the clergy, the princes and persons and civil dig- 
nity, and the common people. 

The expression however of all or every one indicates that 
some of all these sorts will be ensnared. In general, they 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 151 

will not be allowed to seduce any others of the Church's 
members, but those who have not the sign of God on their 
foreheads, that is, those who are not solidly fixed in their faith 
and morals, but suffer themselves to be influenced by their 
passions, by worldly views or pleasures, and who consequently 
have not courage to withstand the temptation, nor to fight 
under the banner of religion. These have not the sign of 
God on their foreheads : they cowardly give up this charac- 
teristic sign, the Cross of Christ, with its persecutions, self- 
denials, and mortification : they go over to their enemies w T ho 
seduced them, and from them learn to have a horror of im- 
printing that salutary mark on their foreheads, which was so 
much the practice of antiquity, as Tertullian informs us. 
11 At every step," says he, " whenever we come in or go out, 
when we put on our clothes or shoes, when we wash, when 
we sit down to table, when w T e light a candle, when we go to 
bed — we imprint on our foreheads the sign of the cross." — 
Lib. de Coron. Milit. c. 3. 

From the present texts of the apocalypse under our con- 
sideration, it appears then that, though Almighty God, in the 
unsearchable ways of his wisdom, allows the protestant sects 
to have a certain degree of power, yet in his goodness he puts 
a bridle to this power, and prescribes to it determinate limits, 
lest it should over-run too great a part of Christ's kingdom. 
" Hitherto shalt thou come and shalt go no further, and here 
thou shalt break thy swelling waves." Job c. 38. v. 11. 
Mahometanism and the Greek schism had already torn away 
a large body of the Catholic community ; but the supreme 
Ruler of the universe had promised, that his Church should 
stand as visible as if seated on a mountain,* and that hell itself 
should not prevail against it.f These assurances are a se- 
cure bulwark to it, and though the Sovereign Disposer has 
permitted the new generated poison of the present age to 
infect some part of his church, the greater part is preserved 
sound and untainted, and shines forth with brighter lustre to 
the world. Many large countries rejected the reformation, 
and steadfastly adhered to the ancient faith, and even in most 
of those kingdoms, which adopted the innovation, there are 
still remaining, by the providence of God, some that refuse to 
bow their knees to Baal ; and though few, like grapes remain- 
ing after the vintage, they stand as a testimony against the 
others who ought to have maintained the same truth with them. 

Besides the above-mentioned particulars, we ought not to 

* Isaias, c. 2. v. 2. Dan. c. 2. v. 35. t Matt. c. 16. v. 18. 



152 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

overlook another check, which has been put upon the efforts 
of the reformation. While powerful princes and great ar- 
mies undertook to propagate the protestant religion, the 
Almighty thought fit to interpose, and gave to the Catholic 
powers sufficient strength to oppose the invasion, and has 
ever since supported them in such manner as to make them 
a match against their enemies. 

"And it was given unto them, (the locusts,) that they 
should not kill them ; but that they should torment them five 
months ; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion 
when he strikes a man," v. 5. Here is a second curb put 
upon the power of the reformed societies. In the last article 
we saw, that their power of seducing others to embrace their 
doctrine was confined to those who had not the sign of God 
on their foreheads, or who by their depravity or bad disposi- 
tions lay open to such seductions. 

Such was the exlent of their power in the spiritual way. 

Here the boundary of their temporal power is fixed. 

They are not permitted to kill them, that is, utterly to destroy 
and exterminate the Catholics. 

In the first heat of the reformation, such was the violence 
of the protestants, that they breathed nothing less than war 
and destruction. In their progress they murdered great 
numbers of the Catholics, demolished their churches and 
monasteries, and carried devastation through the land. But 
the Almighty in his eternal wisdom, had resolved to restrain 
their power, and by his apostle St. John had long ago 
published his decree, contained in the present text, that they 
should not proceed beyond the limits which, he had fixea. 
Their expectations were consequently frustrated, and they were 
obliged to sit down with less extent of conquest than they had 
grasped in their thoughts. In a similar manner, Almighty 
God had often permitted his favourite people the Jews to be 
harassed and oppressed by the foreign nations their enemies, 
but he never suffered them to be extinguished. 

In fine, experience shows that, notwithstanding the pro- 
testant princes have taken such pains to extirpate the Catholic 
religion in their respective states, they have not been able to 
compass it. The Catholics have been grievously oppressed, 
and many even put to death ; nevertheless, though much re- 
duced in some of those countries, by the divine protection 
they still there subsist. 

But it was given unto them, (the locusls,) that they should 
torment them five months. The kind of torment here meant, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 153 

is expressed in the subsequent words : and their torment was 
as the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man. Cer- 
tainly a very sharp torment or pain, to be like that occasioned 
by the sting of a scorpion. This comparison shows plainly, 
that though the power of the protestants was limited by the 
providence of God, they were nevertheless allowed to molest 
and bitterly persecute those of the Catholic communion. 
They were restrained, as we have just now seen, from exter- 
minating the body of the Catholics, but by their persecutions, 
seditions, and wars, they cut off many, and the rest were made 
to suffer extreme hardships and miseries. In those countries, 
where the sovereigns embraced the reformation, they general- 
ly seized upon the revenues of the Church, and thus reduced 
the clergy to the pinching anguishes of want. The bulk of 
the Catholics were forced to adopt the religion of their princes, 
or fly their native country, or in fine be doomed to lie under 
the most heavy oppression. Are not these sufferings well 
compared to the sting of a scorpion ? Besides, who is igno- 
rant of the cruel persecuting laws, that were in those times 
enacted in most of the Protestant states against the Catholic 
religion? Among the rest, who is not acquainted with the 
severe laws of England and Ireland ? They are such, as to 
be owned by those of their own people who have a sense of 
humanity, to be barbarous, to be a scandal to the Christian 
religion, and a disgrace to civilized nations. In consequence 
of these statutes, how many persons have been stripped of their 
estates ? How many individuals have been imprisoned, ba- 
nished, even put to death? How many families have been 
reduced to beggary, and ruined? Are not such hardships 
and oppressions to be deemed severe, and as acute in the pain 
they cause, as the stinging of a scorpion ? 

It is said, this torture was to last five months. Here the 
Almighty prescribes a term to that great severity the Pro- 
testants were permitted to exercise against the true servants of 
God. This term is five months, or one hundred and fifty 
days, giving thirty days to every month, which way of 
reckoning by round numbers is usual with the prophets. 
But it is to be observed, that days in the prophetic style are 
sometimes used for years. Thus it is in that celebrated pro- 
phecy in Daniel of seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety 
days, understood by all the interpreters to mean four hundred 
and ninety years, which were to run from the term mentioned 
in that prophecy to the death of Christ the Messiah. Dan. ix. 
24. Another instance of the same way of reckoning occurs 



154 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

in the book of Ezechiel, where God speaks to that prophet in 
this manner : " Thou shalt take upon thee the iniquity of 
the house of Juda for forty days. A day for a year, yea, a 
day for a year I have appointed to thee." £zek. iv. 6. On 
this principle therefore, as the space of five months, taken 
according to the common acceptation, gives too short a period 
to comprise all the transactions mentioned in our text con- 
cerning the reformation, we shall count one hundred and fifty 
years for the one hundred and fifty days contained in five 
months ; during which time the locusts were empowered to 
sting, that is, the Protestants were allowed to torment so rigo- 
rously the Catholics. If then the one hundred and fifty years 
be counted from the year 1525, about which time those vio- 
lences began to take place, they will bring us to the year 
1675. Some part of the history of the reformation relating to 
this period has been presented to us in the preceding texts, 
and the rest will appear, as we shall presently see, in subse- 
quent verses of our prophetic author. 

" And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not 
find it : and they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from 
them," v. 6. Here is a lively picture of the extreme miseries, 
that the Catholics suffered in consequence of the violence and 
fury with which the reformation was carried on. And does 
not the history of those times evince the truth of it ? On one 
side, many finding themselves rifled and stripped of all that 
belonged to them, actuated by the sting of misery, equal to 
that of the scorpion, took up arms to recover by force what 
they could not hope for by any other means. The poor and 
distressed also, who received their subsistence from the chari- 
table and constant liberalities of the monasteries, being de- 
prived of all resource by the dissolution of those houses, 
drew courage from despair, 

Una salus victis nullum sperare salutem Virgil. 

Despair of life, the means of living shows Dryden. 

and fled to arms, though unjustifiably, and joining with the 
others, sought for death in battle, rather than die by hunger, 
though perhaps it was not their lot to find that death. 

Likewise how miserable was the condition of that multi- 
tude of religious people of both sexes, who were ejected from 
their houses, and robbed of all their possessions! They had 
abandoned the world, and consecrated themselves to God in 
solitary retreats. Unacquainted with manual labour, and 
unaccustomed to every art of providing subsistence, they 
solely attended to the service of God, and to the preparing 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 155 

themselves for another world, depending entirely for the sup- 
port of present life on the pious benefactions of those persons, 
who to promote the divine worship and all the heroic virtues 
of the Christian religion, had endowed those houses with 
suitable revenues. But now a storm, like a hurricane, rose 
and burst upon them. One would have thought that an army 
of Goths or Danes had invaded the land. The recluses saw 
themselves assaulted by brutish ruffians, and forcibly driven 
out of their sanctuaries. They saw their churches violated, 
together with their houses plundered and pulled down to the 
ground. Thus were those ancient nurseries of piety and 
learning reduced to a heap of ruins : a lasting monument 
of the spirit that guided the reformation. Such were the 
extravagances of fanaticism and violence at that period, that 
not a few were scandalized even of those who favoured the 
change of religion.* Thus, for instance, Sir John Denham, 
speaking of the demolition of monasteries in England, cries 
out: 

Who sees these dismal heaps, but will demand, 
What barbarous invader sack'd the land ! 
But when he hears, no Goth, no Turk, did bring 
This desolation, but a Christian king ; 
When nothing but the name of zeal appears 
'Twixt our best actions, and the worst of theirs, 
What does he think our sacrilege would spare, 
Since these th' effects of our devotion are. 

Cooper's Hill. 

Let us hear another protestant writer: "England sate 
weeping," says Camden, " to see her wealth exhausted, her 
coin debased, and her abbeys demolished, which were the 
monuments of ancient piety." Introd. to the Annals of Queen 
Eliz. 

By such inhuman proceedings a great number of religious 
men and women saw themselves stripped of evrey commodity 
of life. They saw themselves exposed to the iruclemency of 
the weather, to the distresses of want, to the insults of an in- 
solent populace worked up to enthusiasm ; in fine, they found 
themselves turned out into a wide world, without knowing 
which wav to direct their steps. What wonder, if in this 
destitute forlorn condition they should rather desire to die, 
than drag on so wretched a life? Had the executioner 
been sent instead of a commissioner, and required the lives 
of all those who refused to sacrifice their conscience to the 
new religion, they would have esteemed themselves happy in 

• See Stowe's Annals, Fuller's and Collier's Church Histories. 



156 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

acquiring the crown of martyrdom. But to be exposed to all 
sorts of temptations, to lasting wretchedness, and to see the 
Church of God trampled under foot, were more cruel afflic- 
tions to them than death. These however they were con- 
demned to bear, and to be deprived of the blessing of giving 
up their lives. They desired to die, and death fled from 
them. 

" And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses pre- 
pared unto battle," v. 7. Here is expressed the spirit of 
sedition and rebellion that animated the reformers and their 
proselytes. Luther proclaimed himself the leader in this as 
well as other articles of the new discipline, and he levelled 
his first attacks against the Church. He set out with in- 
veighing against all Church government, he declaimed 
against the clergy, and especially against the superiority of 
the pope, though but a little before he had professed all obe- 
dience to him. Having gained for disciple and protector, 
John Frederick, elector of Saxony, he kept no further mea- 
sures, but declared open war against the bishops, and the 
whole ecclesiastic order. In his rage, he composed a book 
on the subject, in which he said, " All those who will ven- 
ture their lives, their estates, their honour and their blood, in 
so Christian a work, as to root out all bishopricks and 
bishops, who are the ministers of Satan, and to pluck up by 
the roots all their authority and jurisdiction in the world: 
these persons are the true children of God, and obey his com- 
mandments." Contra statum Ecclesia, et falso nominaium 
ordinem Episcoporum. Again, in his book against Sylvester 
Prieras. " If," says he, " we despatch thieves by the gallows, 
highwaymen by the sword, heretics by fire ; why do we not 
rather attack with all kinds of arms these masters of perdi- 
tion, these cardinals, these popes, and all this sink of the 
Romish Sodom, which corrupts without ceasing the Church of 
God, and wash our hands in their blood." Thus preached 
the new religionist, nor did he cease, till he got the bishops 
expelled from Saxony, and Hesse, and their authority extin- 
guished. 

Not content with having thrown off contemptuously the 
spiritual authority of the pope, the bishops, and of the whole 
Church, Luther next attempted to subvert the temporal power 
of princes. The new teachers totally differed from the pri- 
mitive preachers of the gospel. These, during their whole 
ministry, had before their eyes the charge which Christ gave 
to his apostles. " Behold, I send you," said he, "as sheep 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 157 

in the midst of wolves." Matt. x. 16. Which they all under- 
stood as an order to preserve the meekness and gentleness of 
sheep, whatever wolves or persecutors they might meet with. 
And this rule they invariably followed. But Luther, though 
at first he professed an aversion to violence, finding the way of 
patience did not succeed, soon altered his maxims. The gospel, 
he then said, and the rest of the reformers said the same after 
him, " the gospel has always caused disturbances, and blood 
is requisite for its establishment." De serv. arb. When 
therefore he had done as much as he was able, to abolish the 
clergy, canon law, and the universities, he then proceeded to 
attack the emperor and temporal princes, both by his writings 
and preaching. " You must know," said he, " that from the 
beginning of the world to this day, it has ever been a rare 
thing to find a wise prince ; but more rare to find one that 
was honest : for commonly they are the greatest fools and 
knaves in the world." De Soeculari Potest. Again : " You 
must know, my good lords," said he, " that God will have it 
so, that your subjects neither can, nor will, nor ought any 
longer to endure your tyrannical governments." Contra 
Riisticus. Nay, even he could not refrain from expressing 
the same contempt and rebellious disposition towards his own 
patron, and protector, John Frederick, elector of Saxony ; 
having been slighted, as he thought, by his highness. " If it 
is lawful for me," said Luther, " for the sake of Christian li- 
berty, not only to neglect, but to trample under my feet the 
pope's decrees, the canons of councils, the laws and man- 
dates of the emperor himself, and of all princes ; think you, 
I shall value your orders so much as to take them for laws ?" 
Contra Amhr. Catharin. 

These sorts of lessons found easy entrance into the minds 
of people, who had already drunk plentifully of the spirit of 
" Evangelical liberty." Their dispositions were soured and 
worked up by this inflammatory doctrine of their ministers 
to such a degree, that they were ready for any enterprise of 
sedition and rebellion. Erasmus thus describes them : " I 
saw them come forth from their sermons with fierce looks 
and threatening countenances," like men "that just come 
from hearing bloody invectives and seditious speeches." Ac- 
cordingly we found "these evangelical people always ready 
to rise up in arms, and equally as good at fighting as at dis- 
puting." How different is this spirit from that of the first 
ages of Christianity ! The faithful then learned from the 
apostles and their successors no other doctrine, but the doc- 
14 



158 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

trine of patience, humility, meekness, obedience to the sove- 
reign powers ; and these lessons they invariably adhered to. 
They said : " Our hopes are not fixed on the present world, 
and therefore we make no resistance to the executioner that 
comes to strike us." S. Justin. Apol. 2. ad Imper. Anton, 
pium. They said, " We adore one only God, but in all other 
things we cheerfully obey you," the emperors. Ibid. They 
said again : " We Christians pray to God, that he may gran! 
to the emperors a long life, a peaceable reign, safety at home, 
victorious arms, a faithful senate, virtuous subjects, universal 
peace, and every thing that a man and emperor can desire." 
Tertul. Apol. In fine, the heats occasioned by Luther's sedi- 
tious doctrine were so much fomented and increased by his 
disciples and other new reformers, that they soon kindled into 
a flame. The peasants in Germany rose up in arms, flocked 
together, and, like horses prepared unto war, they proceeded 
in a body, carrying devastation through the provinces of Sua- 
bia, Franconia, and Alsatia, and ransacked many of the im- 
perial towns. The ringleaders of this multitude, chiefly com- 
posed of Anabaptists, were Muncer and Phiffer. Muncer 
pretended he had received from God "the sword of Gedeon," 
in order to depose idolatrous magistrates, and to compel the 
world to acknowledge the new kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
These fanatic insurgents in their progress plundered and 
burned churches, monasteries and castles, killed priests monks 
and noblemen. The elector of Saxony and other princes, 
to put a stop to these disorders and desolations, confederated 
together, and joining their forces, cut off and dispersed some 
parties of the rebels, and defeated the chief body of them at 
Frankhusen with great slaughter in 1525. Muncer and 
Phiffer, the chiefs, being taken, were executed a few days 
after. 

No part of the German empire was free from these tu- 
mults. The people were universally intoxicated with the 
notion of reforming religion, and bent upon removing such 
magistrates as would not conform to their new systems. At 
Erford they degraded and secured all the officers of the town. 
At Frankfort, after having pillaged the churches, and banish- 
ed the clergy, they expelled the old senators, committed the 
government of the city to twenty-four commoners, and made 
a new set of laws, composed from the doctrine of Luther. 
Their brethren in Cologne, Mentz, and Triers, had alsc> 
taken up arms for the same purpose, but failed in their at- 
tempts. Such were the extremes of licentiousness the peopls 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 159 

proceeded to at this period, from their new conceived notion 
of " liberty," that the Emperor Charles V. found it very diffi- 
cult to stem the torrent, nor could he effectually compass it 
till many years after. These transactions may be seen more 
at large in Sleidan, Cochlaeus, and other historians. 

The Lutherans of Germany, who received the name of 
Protestants, from their protesting against a decree made in 
favour of the Catholic religion in the diet held at Spires in 
1529, drew up in opposition to it, their confession of faith, 
called the Augsburg Confession, and entered into a league of- 
fensive and defensive at Smalstald against the Emperor and 
Catholic princes of Germany. Luther had sounded the 
trumpet of war, and set all Germany in a flame. The heads 
of this formidable league were, the Electors of Saxony and 
Brandenburgh, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Dukes of Wir- 
temburg and Lunenburg, and the Prince of Anhalt. Allured 
by the boundless liberty and enjoyment of the Church pos- 
sessions, which they acquired by the reformation, they re- 
solved to secure them by the point of the sword. They there- 
fore assembled troops, and brought into the field an army of 
seventy thousand men, commanded by the Elector of Saxony 
and the Landgrave of Hesse, and a hundred and twelve 
pieces of cannon. Some other German princes, besides the 
above-mentioned, either joined them personally, or sent them 
forces. They likewise received succours from the imperial 
towns of Augsburgh, Ulm, Strasburgh, and Frankfort. Thus 
they were prepared to depose the Emperor Charles V. and to 
extirpate from Germany the Catholic faith, which had been 
the established religion of the empire for many ages past. 
The eyes of all Europe were intent upon the issue of this 
war. The emperor with a much smaller army marched 
with resolution against them, engaged them near the Elbe, 
and gained a complete victory in 1547. The two generals, 
the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse, were 
taken prisoners. Thus was the Catholic religion secured in the 
empire, and Protestantism, though checked, kept its ground. 

A similar scene was acted in Switzerland, where Zuin- 
glius had introduced the reformation, as we have already re- 
lated. The reformed cantons, not content with having them- 
selves adopted Zuinglianism, Avould also force it upon the 
other cantons that remained Catholic. This occasioned a 
war to ensue, and a battle was fought, in which the Protest- 
ants were defeated, and Zuinglius himself at their head slain 
in 1531. 



150 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Calvin's reformation at Geneva began by ejecting the 
prince bishop of the place, and dispossessing him of his so* 
vereignty and temporal dominions. Calvin, who modelled 
the state of Geneva, declared himself an enemy to monarch- 
ical government, and ever commended the advantages of a 
commonwealth. " They are," said he, " beside their wits, 
quite void of sense and understanding, who desire to live un- 
der absolute monarchies ; for it cannot be, but that order and 
policy must decay, where one man holds such an extent of 
government." Comment, in Dan, c. 2. v. 39. By degrees he 
expressed more openly his aversion to kings, and endea- 
voured to disgrace their characters by the most scurrilous 
abuse. " These kings," says he, " are in a manner all of 
them a set of blockheads and brutish men." Ibid. c. 6» v. 3, 
Thus he trod upon the steps, and imitated the language of 
his forerunner Luther. Again ; " Princes," says Calvin, 
44 forfeit their power when they oppose God in opposing the 
reformation, and it is better, in such cases, to spit in their 
faces than to obey." Ibid. v. 22. What can be the purport 
of such doctrine, but to inspire a contempt for sovereigns, 
and to encourage the people to cast off their government, un- 
der the cloak of religion ? 

Theodore Beza, Calvin's scholar and successor at Geneva, 
supported his master's doctrine, and enforced it by his own 
writings, as may be seen in the preface to his translation ot 
the New Testament ; and again in his book, " Vindicce con- 
tra Tyrannos" where he says : " We must obey kings for 
God's sake, when they obey God ;" but otherwise, " as the 
vassal loses his fief or tenure, if he commit felony, so does 
the king lose his right and realm also ;" thus speaks our 
modern Junius Brutus. In this same work may be seen a 
hundred other assertions of the same nature, the natural ten- 
dency of which can be no other, but to arm subjects against 
their sovereign, and to introduce anarchy and confusion into 
the world. How different is the doctrine of these two mo- 
dern apostles from that of the ancient great apostles, SS. Pe- 
ter and Paul ! " Be ye subject," says St. Peter, " to every 
human creature for God's sake : whether it be to the king, 
as excelling ; or to governors, as sent by him for the punish- 
ment of evil doers, and for the praise of the good." Ep. I. 
c. 2. v. 13, 14. " Let every soul," says St. Paul, "be sub- 
ject to higher power : for there is no powers, but from God : 
and those that are, are ordained of God." Therefore he that 
resists the power, resists the ordinance of God. And they 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 161 

that resist purchase to themselves damnation." Ep. ad Rom. 
xiii. 1, 2. 

Geneva, having settled the plan of her principles accord- 
ing to the instructions of Calvin and Beza, became a school 
of rebellion to the western parts of Europe, and the princi* 
pal nursery of the civil wars in France. This country soon 
found its bowels convulsed by the poisonous seeds of the re 
formation, that had clandestinely been sown, and taken deep 
root, in Dauphine, Gascony, Languedoc, and other provinces. 
In 1560, the Calvinists, or Huguenots, formed what is called 
44 the conspiracy of Amboise," which w r as a scheme to seize 
the person of Francis II. king of France, and to murder the 
duke of Guise and his brother the cardinal of Lorrain, who 
had the chief management of affairs in the kingdom, and 
were attached to the Catholic religion. They had prepared 
a body of troops for the purpose ; but the plot was discovered, 
and prevented from taking effect. However a civil war 
broke out in 1562, in which the prince of Conde was de- 
clared chief of the Huguenots. This great general at the 
head of a body of them, surprised and took the city of Or- 
leans, while other protestant corps made themselves masters 
of Rouen and several other towns. But the constable Mont- 
morency and the duke of Guise advancing against them at 
the head of the Catholics, for Charles IX., who had suc- 
ceeded Francis II., a battle ensued near the town of Dreux, 
in which the Huguenots, who gave the attack, were de- 
feated, and their commander, the prince of Conde, taken pri- 
soner. 

Though the protestants had thus miscarried in their rebel- 
lion against their sovereign, yet Beza, w^ho for his warmth 
in the cause had accompanied them, and been present at the 
battle of Dreux, boasted of that battle, as having served to 
lay the foundation of the reformation in France. Thus he 
addressed Queen Elizabeth in the preface to his translation of 
the New Testament : " Upon which day, (the day of the bat- 
tle at Dreux,) two years since, the nobility and gentry of 
France, under the command of his excellency the prince of 
Conde, being assisted with your majesty's auxiliary troops, 
and some others from the princes of Germany, laid the first 
foundation of the true reformed religion in France, with 
their own blood. 5 ' He in the same place commends the re- 
bellious transactions of the Huguenots at Meaux, Orleans, 
&c. and glories in having had a share in them. " Which I 
speak," says he, "the more freely, because I myself as it 
14* 



162 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

pleased God* was present at most of those deliberations and 
actions." 

The year after the battle at Dreux, the duke of Guise was 
assassinated by Poltrot, a fanatic Calvinist. Notwithstanding 
the bad success the Huguenots had met with, they resolved 
not to rest, till they should compel the king to come into their 
own terms. They therefore contrived another scheme to 
seize his person, on his going from Meaux to Paris : but the 
design being discovered and frustrated, the civil war recom- 
menced, and they were vanquished a second time near St. 
Dennis, in 1 567. They were worsted again at Jarnac in 1 569, 
and the same year were overthrown in a very bloody engage* 
ment at Moncontour. 

Many were the insurrections and rebellions of the Cal- 
vinists in France in the subsequent reigns, which cre- 
ated infinite perplexities to the kings, and produced in- 
expressible calamities in that kingdom. It is sufficient in 
this place to have shown their origin from the principles 
of the reformation, and their first progress. And what 
has been said, is no more than is acknowledged by protest- 
ants themselves of other sects. Thus are the Calvinists de- 
scribed by Dr. Heylin, a learned protestant of the Church 
of England, in his Cosmography, book I. " Rather than their 
discipline should not be admitted, and the episcopal govern- 
ment destroyed in all the churches of Christ, they were re- 
solved to depose kings, ruin kingdoms, and to subvert the fun- 
damental constitutions of all civil states." When people pro- 
ceed upon such schemes of violence, can they wonder, that 
princes or their officers in their wrath sometimes retaliate 
upon them J Violence necessarily gives provocation, which 
in its turn exerts itself, though perhaps by unjustifiable me- 
thods. When sovereigns perceive their lives to be in dan- 
ger from conspiracies, when they see their states ransacked, 
and thrown into confusion by the arms of rebellious subjects, 
can we be surprised if these sovereigns, without consulting 
religion, sometimes repel the evil by rough and cruel means ?- 
Such was the so much talked of massacre of the Huguenots, 
at Paris and other places in France, in 1572, on St. Bartho- 
lomew's day, in the reign of Charles IX. 

The massacre also of the protestants in Ireland in 1641, 
has been often objected against the Catholic Church. When 
people are driven to despair by excessive hardship and op- 
pression, and even threatened with utter extirpation, what 
wonder if an insurrection follows ? Such was the case with 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 163 

the Irish Catholics. The insurgents even were not the body 
of Catholics, they were no more than an exasperated rabble 
in the province of Ulster, who acted against the inclination 
of the community, and in opposition to the exhortations of 
their clergy: and indeed all such violences are utterly con- 
demned by the Catholic doctrine. It is also clear from au- 
thentic records and testimonies, that this massacre has been 
exceedingly exaggerated, and that not one hundredth part of 
the number were murdered that were reported. These par- 
ticulars are proved at length by a learned protestant writer 
of the kingdom of Ireland, in a book entitled : " The trial of 
the cause of the Roman Catholics. Dublin, 1761." 

The nature of Calvinism being so opposite to the Catholic 
religion, it produced in its proselytes a rancorous aversion to 
every thing belonging to the latter communion. The conse- 
quence of this could be no other, when once they had arms 
in their hands, but to spread desolation, and exercise cruelties 
upon those whose religion they hated. And such was the real 
fact. It is impossible to read the history of the Calvinists, 
without being shocked at the disorders and barbarities com- 
mitted by them. It is computed, that in the course of those 
wars, they destroyed twenty thousand churches. In the pro- 
vince of Dauphine alone, they killed two hundred and fifty- 
five priests, and one hundred and twelve monks and friars, 
and burnt nine hundred towns and villages. If the maxims 
of Calvinism warranted such proceedings, could its gospel 
be the gospel of Christ ? 

As Beza had been the chief instrument of propagating 
Calvinism in France, and a great agent in fomenting the 
seditions and combustions it occasioned in that country ; in 
like manner Knox, another disciple of Calvin, carried the 
same doctrine into Scotland, where he planted it by sedition 
and rebellion, by fire and sword. He, Buchanan, Goodman, 
and other associates, having consulted together, agreed to 
reform the Church of Scotland according to the standard of 
Geneva J when a sufficient party was formed, they began their 
work of reformation by murdering Cardinal Beaton in 
1546, the principal supporter of the Catholic Religion. 
Knox harangued the people, declaimed against the ancient 
faith and clergy, and inflamed the multitude to that degree 
of rage, that they immediately ran to the Churches, over- 
turned the altars, defaced the pictures, broke to pieces the 
statues, carried off the ornaments, and then proceeded 
against the monasteries, which they almost laid level with 



164 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

the ground. This sort of work Knox carried on in dif- 
ferent parts of Scotland. In a little time these fanatics, who 
were styled Presbyterians, finding themselves growing nu- 
merous, rose up, like horses prepared unto battle, in re- 
bellion against the queen regent, and bringing armies into 
the field, committed horrible disorders. They were supported^ 
by Queen Elizabeth of England ; and having convoked a 
general assembly of the party, they concluded, conformably 
to the opinion of Knox, who declared it lawful, to depose 
the queen mother from her regency. After her death, which 
happened in the year 1560, Queen Mary being then in 
France, they enacted a law, by the instigation of Knox, 
prohibiting the exercise of the Catholic religion in Scotland. 
They got this law afterwards confirmed by a Parliament 
in 1567, and they excluded the queen from all govern- 
ment. The succeeding calamities which this unfortunate 
queen and her kingdom sustained from that seditious set 
of people, who were grown too strong to be controlled, 
are too well known to need any relation. It is equally 
notorious, that the spirit of Presbyterianism, at first con- 
fined to the north, insinuated itself by degrees into the 
neighbouring kingdom of England, where it soon created 
divisions among the people, and raised such commotions, 
as in the end overturned the state, and brought a king to 
the block. The world has too much experienced, that 
kings, queens, bishops, and priests, could never be allowed 
a share in their friendship. 

Lutheranism having insinuated itself into the Nether- 
lands, several states of that country confederated toge- 
ther at Utrecht in 1578, and agreed to twenty articles, as 
the foundation of their union, the first of which was 4t to 
support, one another against all force that should be exer- 
cised upon them in the king's name or for religion." This 
league was confirmed at the Hague under the auspices of 
the Prince of Orange in the year 1581. The scheme was, 
to renounce all obedience to their liege lord the king of 
Spain, and to withdraw themselves entirely from his power, 
which they did by a public edict. Pursuant to this, they 
proceeded to break the king's seal, to pull down his arms, 
to take possession of his lands and rents, and to coin 
money in their own names. With the same usurped au- 
thority they seized the Church-livings, and abolished the 
Catholic religion. Such were the steps taken under the 
standard of Lutheranism; but when the Calvinistical doc- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 165 

trine got footing, the flame spread with the utmost vio- 
lence. The people, regardless of all laws, by which they 
were bound to their sovereign, take up arms and mutiny 
every where against his magistrates. The churches are 
plundered, the religious men and women are expelled by- 
force from their monasteries, which are rifled and pulled 
down. To quell these rebellious insurrections, and to put 
a stop to these disorders, Philip, king of Spain, to whom 
the low countries belonged, sent a body of Spanish forces 
under the command of the Duke of Alva. A bloody war 
ensued, in which the Prince of Orange was the chief di- 
rector of the affairs of the confederates. The duke reduced 
ten of the revolted provinces to their former obedience and 
subjection to the king of Spain; but seven others, since 
styled the " United Provinces," found means to maintain 
their ground against the Spanish efforts, and formed them- 
selves into an independent commonwealth, the only go- 
vernment that Calvinism admits of. 

In England, Denmark, and Sweden, the reformation 
was introduced by the kings themselves, who compelled 
their subjects to receive it. Thus ushered in by the su- 
preme temporal power, it stood in no need of insurrec- 
tions and tumults among the people, to gain admittance ; 
the sword and authority of the prince performed the whole 
function. Those individuals, who dared to continue in the 
practice of the ancient religion, were declared traitors to 
their sovereign, and rebels to the state. 

Thus much may be sufficient for the explanation of our 
text, that the shapes of the locusts were like horses pre- 
pared unto battle. 

" And on their heads (the heads of the locusts,) were as 
it were like crowns of gold," v. 7. The locusts bore upon 
their heads something that resembled crowns, which crowns 
appeared to be of gold. This allusion points at the pride 
and presumption of the new sectaries, who assumed to 
themselves the high function of preaching the gospel, with- 
out having any lawful mission: they pretended to be the 
true ministers of God, without showing any credentials 
from him ; they set up for apostles of Christ, but could 
not produce his commission. Luther styled himself "by 
the grace of God, ecclesiastes or preacher of Wirtemburg." 
Epist. ad fals. nominat. Epis. He treated with the ut- 
most contempt the pope and the bishops, as we have al- 
ready seen. As to the Fathers of the Church, he said, 



166 HISTORY OF ?HE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

" they were all blind." Lib. de servit Arbit. And " he con 
cerned not himself what Ambrose, Augustin, the councils, 
or practices of ages, said." Lib. contra Regem Anglice. 
Then he boasted of his own merits: "The gospel," says 
he, " has been so fully preached by us, that even in the 
times of the apostles it was not so well understood." Serm. 
de JEvers. Jerusalem. In this manner Luther set a crown 
upon his own head, and the whole troop of reformers' after 
him crowned themselves in the same manner. Such crowns, 
the w T ork of self-conceit and arrogance, could not be real 
crowns, but only as it were crowns, that is, the mere appear- 
ances of such. 

It was said of the apostles of Christ : " Thou shalt esta- 
blish them princes Over all the earth." Psalm 44. 17. The 
conversion of numberless nations to Christ by their ministry, 
had merited to them the title of princes a*nd the right of 
w r earing crowns. The reformers claimed the same honours. 
But the crowns of the apostles were of pure gold, because 
their doctrine, which flowed from Christ the source, was pure 
and genuine. Whereas the doctrine of our modern apostles, 
being derived from no other source but their own invention, 
and being contrary to the doctrine preserved in that Church 
which was planted and formed by the primitive apostles : 
such new-devised doctrine, I say, can be nothing else but er- 
ror and delusion, and consequently their apparent crowns 
are not of pure but of counterfeit gold, or, as the text ex- 
presses it, they are like to gold, or really mere tinsel. — These 
crowns on their heads, also show clearly their general spirit 
of independency. 

" And their faces (the faces of the locusts) were as the faces 
of men," v. 7. The locusts appeared to St. John with faces of 
men. Here is marked out the delusive appearance of the 
modern sectaries. They pretended that faith had been adul- 
terated, and that the morals of mankind were guided by 
erroneous principles. They therefore assumed the province 
of rectifying both, by preaching up a " reformation." For 
this purpose these "reformers" framed new systems of reli- 
gion. They proposed each of them their own creed for set- 
tling the articles of belief, and a new plan of morality for the 
direction of human actions. All this was devised, as they al- 
leged, to correct the defects and errors of the Catholic doc- 
trine. Thus they put on the faces of men, that is, they an- 
nounced themselves as teachers of orthodox and holy doctrine ; 
and by this means they deluded those who had not the sign o 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 167 

God upon their foreheads; that is, the careless and vicious. 
But it soon appeared that these faces of men were no more 
than vizards resembling- human faces, that the specious name 
of "reformation" was only a mask made use of to instil their 
treacherous doctrine with more ease and subtlety. The mask 
was soon removed, and their doctrine, when applied to the 
true criterion, was evidently discovered to be false. It disa- 
greed with that which Christ had deposited with his apostles, 
and which he charged them to impart to the rest of mankind ; 
at the same time assuring them and their successors that, in 
order to enable them to execute their commission with fidelity, 
11 he would himself be with them to the end of the world." 
Matt, xxviii. 20. And that u the spirit of truth should abide 
with them for ever." John xiv. 16, 17. That the new-in- 
vented maxims were of bad tendency, the effects soon proved. 
Instead of a reformation, they produced a general licentious- 
ness. This appeared in the seditions, insurrections and vio- 
lences committed on all sides. Complaints were also heard 
from all quarters, of excessive looseness of manners. The 
Lutheran magistrates of several imperial cities in Germany, 
petitioned the Emperor Charles V. to re-establish by his au- 
thority auricular confession, as a check upon the then pre- 
vailing libertinism. And indeed it was highly probable, that 
from the pretended " Christian liberty 55 which was then 
preached, a deluge of vice would have diffused itself, had not 
the civil power stepped in to stem it. The reformers themselves 
were so ashamed of the progress of immorality among their 
proselytes, that they could not help complaining against it. 
Thus spoke Luther : " Men are now more revengeful, covet- 
ous, and licentious, than they were ever in the papacy. 55 
Postil. super Evang. Dom. 1. adv. Thus again: "Hereto- 
fore when we were seduced by the pope, every man willing- 
ly performed good works, but now no man says or knows 
any thing else, but how to get all to himself by exactions, pil- 
lage, theft, lying, usury, 55 &c. Postil. super Evang. Dom. 
26. post. Trin. Calvin wrote in the same strain : " Of so many 
thousands,' 5 said he, "who, renouncing popery, seemed eager- 
ly to embrace the gospel, how few have amended their lives ? 
Nay, what else did the greater part pretend to, but by sha- 
king off the yoke of superstition, to give themselves more li- 
berty to follow all kinds of licentiousness. 55 Lib. de Scandalis. 
Others of the German reformers repeated the same re- 
proaches. But have those a right to complain of an inun- 
dation who have themselves cut open the banks of the river ? 



168 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Dr. Heylin, in his history of the reformation, complains also of 
"the great increase of viciousness" in England in the re- 
forming reign of Edward VI. Erasmus, though no zealous 
advocate for the Catholics, could not help observing the de- 
generacy of morals brought on by the change of religion : 
" Take a view," says he, " of this evangelical people, the pro- 
testants. — Perhaps 'tis my misfortune ; but I never yet met 
with one, who does not appear changed for the worse." 
Epist. ad Yultur. Neoc. And again : " Some persons," says 
he, " whom I knew formerly innocent, harmless, and without 
deceit, no sooner have I seen joined to that sect, (the protest- 
ants,) but they began to talk of wenches, to play at dice, to leave 
off prayers, being grown extremely worldly, most impatient, 
revengeful, vain, like vipers tearing one another. I speak by 
experience." JEp. ad Fratres infer. Germanice. 

" And they (the locusts,) had hair as the hair of women," 
v. 8. In describing the heads of the locusts, from the fore- 
part of the face which resembled that of man, St. John pro- 
ceeds to the back-part, which is found covered with hair like 
woman's hair. This latter allusion, unhappily for the sec- 
taries, betrays too plainly their sensual disposition towards 
that sex, their shameful doctrine on that score, and the scan- 
dalous example of their practice. Luther, in despite of the 
vow he had solemnly made to God of keeping continency, 
married, and married a nun, equally bound as himself to that 
sacred religious promise. But as St. Jerome says, " It is rare 
to rind a heretic that loves chastity." Luther's example had 
indeed been anticipated by Carlostadius, a priest and ring- 
leader of the Sacramentarians, who had married a little be- 
fore ; and it was followed by most of the heads of the reform- 
ation. Zuinglius, a priest and chief of the sect that bore his 
name, took a wife. Bucer, a religious man of the order of 
St. Dominick, became Lutheran, left his cloister, and married 
a nun. Oecolampadius, a Brigittin monk, became Zuinglian, 
and also married. Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, had 
also his wife. Peter Martyr, a canon regular, embraced the 
doctrine of Calvin, but followed the example of Luther, and 
married a nun. Ochin, general of the Capuchins, became Lu- 
theran, and also married. Thus the principal leaders in the 
reformation went forth preaching the new gospel, with two 
marks upon them, apostacy from faith, and open violation 
of the most sacred vows. The passion of lust, it is also well 
known, hurried Henry VIII. of England into a separation from 
the Catholic Church, and ranked him among the reformers. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. x69 

As Luther foresaw the scandal that would rise from his own 
and such like sacrilegious marriages, he prepared the world 
for it, by writing against the celibacy of the clergy, and 
against all religious vows. He proclaimed that all such vows 
11 were contrary to faith, to the commands of God, and to evan- 
gelical liberty." Be votis Monast He said again : " God 
disapproves of such a vow, of living in continency, equally 
as if I should vow to become the mother of God, or to create 
a new world." Ep. ad Wolfgang Reisemb. And again : 
" To attempt to live unmarried, is plainly to fight against God." 
Ibid. How does such doctrine agree with the commenda- 
tions our Saviour gives to celibacy, when speaking of it he 
says : " All men take not this word, but they to whom it is 
given." Matt. xix. 11. Or with the advice of St. Paul, who 
being himself unmarried, said: " I say to the unmarried and 
widows : it is good for them if they so continue, even as I." 
1 Cor. vii. 8. And this has been practised through all the 
ages of Christianity. But when men give a loose to the de- 
pravity of nature, what wonder if the most scandalous prac- 
tices ensue? Accordingly, besides what has been above- 
mentioned, a striking instance of this kind appeared in the li- 
cense granted in 1539 to Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, to have 
two wives at once : which license was signed by Luther, Me- 
lanchton, Bucer, and five other divines. On another hand, 
a wide door was laid open to another species of scandal: 
the doctrine of the reformation admitted divorces in the 
marriage state in certain cases, contrary to the doctrine of the 
gospel, and even allowed the parties thus separated to marry 
other wives and other husbands. 

* And their teeth (the teeth of the locusts,) were as of lions," 
v. 8. In the preceding article we had a figure of the incon- 
tinency of the reformers, here we are presented with a sym- 
bol of their avarice. It was not sufficient to have named 
them locusts, and to intimate their ravenous temper by the 
greediness of those insects ; they are here represented with 
teeth of lions, ready to devour with violence whatever prey 
they can come at. What is more known than the truth of 
this representation ? Did not the protestants, wherever they 
got footing, pillage the churches, seize the church possessions, 
destroy the monasteries, and appropriate to themselves the 
revenues? Such was the case in Germany, in Holland, in 
France, in Switzerland, in Scotland, as we have seen in rela- 
ting the protestant wars in those countries. In England 
likewise, what a scene of rapine ! Without descending to a 
15 



170 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

detail of particulars, it may be sufficient to say, that in the 
reign of Henry VIII. were suppressed no less than 645 mon- 
asteries, 90 Colleges, 110 hospitals, and of chantries and free 
chapels 2374, Baker's Chron. ; the lands and revenues of all 
which were confiscated to the king. Is not this, to devour 
with lion's teeth ? The same course of rapine was carried 
on under Edward VI., which swept away what remained from 
the preceding reign. Dr. Heylin, in the preface to his his- 
tory of the reformation, speaking of this prince and his reign, 
says : " Such was the rapacity of the times, and the misfor- 
tune of his condition, that his minority was abused by many 
acts of spoil and rapine, even to an high degree of sacrilege, 
to the raising of some, and the enriching of others, without 
any manner of improvement to his own estate." The hungry 
courtiers began their sacrilegious rapine, by plundering the 
images and shrines of the saints, and seizing upon the orna- 
ments, plate, and jewels of the churches. These spoils not 
being sufficient to glut their leonine avidity, they invaded the 
bishopricks, which they stripped of many of their possessions. 
The detail of all which may be seen in the above-mentioned 
history of Dr. Heylin. 

In Sweden, Gustavus Erickson introduced the Lutheran 
reformation, and seized the church-lands and revenues, leav- 
ing the clergy but a slender maintenance. The same did 
Christiern III., king of Denmark, in his dominions. Thus 
~obbing people of their property, demolishing their habita- 
tions, public buildings, &c. which violences in all civilized 
countries are punished with death, were, in the course of the 
reformation, practised with impunity ; and the perpetrators 
gratified their avarice, which they masked with the pretend- 
ed vindication of religion. The testaments of the dead, 
which even among heathens are sacred, were in these times 
contemptuously violated, and the donations, which the testa- 
tors had dedicated to the service of God, and to the relief of 
the sick and distressed, were scandalously diverted to other 
purposes. 

11 And they had (the locusts had,) breast-plates as breast- 
plates of iron," v. 9. In the two last articles, we saw the 
spirit of incontinency and avarice of the reformers and their 
societies : here we are presented with a picture of their ob- 
stinacy, under the figure of iron breast-plates. Whoever is 
not joined with the protestants in their persuasion, knows full 
well that their obstinacy is incredible in defending their doc- 
trine ; that for that purpose they are not ashamed to make use 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 171 

of any arguments, though ever so frivolous, inconsistent, or 
absurd, and to asperse the Catholic communion with slanders, 
misrepresentations, and calumnies. It also appears from the 
account we have hefore given of the wars of the reformation, 
that the protestants were always ready to maintain their new 
adopted religion at any rate, even with arms, and at the risk of 
their lives. In that view the protestant princes of Germany 
entered into a league offensive anddefensive against the Empe- 
ror Charles V., rose up in arms, nor could they be prevailed up- 
on to sit down quiet, till they had established the reformation. 
Thus they carried breast-plates of iron. Many other wars 
succeeded in Germany between the Catholics and Protestants. 
After a similar manner in other countries, where the reforma- 
tion get footing, its abettors so obstinately supported it by se- 
dition, disturbance, and war, that no peace could be purcha- 
sed from them, till their religion was admitted and ratified by 
the laws of the respective kingdom's. Such was the case not 
only in Germany, but in Holland, in several provinces of 
France, in Scotland, &c. And I believe every one presumes 
such would be more or less the case at this day, if any dan- 
ger threatened the reformation. 

; ' And the noise of their wings (the wings of the locusts) was 
as the noise of chariots of many horses running to battle," v. 9. 
Here the prophet points at the turbulent, murmuring, cla- 
morous disposition of the reformed, properly expressed by the 
noise of the wings of the locusts, which was as loud as the 
noise of chariots of many horses running to war. Did not 
that inflammatory spirit of uneasiness, loud murmur, and 
sedition, appear in all those kingdoms where the reformation 
was received ? How often has the public tranquillity been 
convulsed by that baleful poison ? What fatal disturbances 
have been raised, and what troubles have princes sustained to 
quell them % Some of the sects are inspired with a relentless 
hatred to government; their complaints are clamorous and 
unceasing, and they brood upon mischief, devising how to 
destroy superior power, and reduce all mankind to a level. 
What intestine murmurs have been heard, what tumultuous 
scenes have been seen in England, Scotland, and France % 

On another hand, the unhappy effects of this uneasy and 
ungenerous disposition have been severely felt by those of the 
Catholic communion, living in protestant countries. Though 
all the reformed sects agreed in preaching up " Christian 
liberty," the Catholics have seemed to be envied the least 
share of that invaluable blessing- Without any just pro- 



172 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

vocation, alarming outcries have been often thrown out 
against them : they have been threatened with the rigour of 
the laws, and persecution even has sometimes been set on 
foot. We see then that the loud noise of the wings of the 
locusts, like the loud rumbling noise of chariots of many 
horses running to battle, very fitly represents that restless 
turbulent spirit, which continued in the reformed societies, 
and banished peace from governments as well as from the 
Church of Christ. 

Here terminates the period of five months, or 150 years, 
mentioned above in verse 5th ; w T ithin which space of time is 
comprehended, as we have seen, one share of the history of 
the reformation, and in reality the principal part of it. During 
this period, w r hich commenced, as we have said, about the 
year 1525, and consequently ended 1675, the reformed religion 
was forcibly introduced, took its full growth, and was finally 
settled. In Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, borne upon 
the shoulders of sedition and rebellion, it became so far vic- 
torious as to procure its establishment by the celebrated 
treaty of Munster in Westphalia in 1648. The Calvinists 
or Huguenots in France made their way by detestable plots 
and dreadful civil wars, till they procured from Henry IV. 
the edict of Nantes, for the toleration of their religion, in 
1598: which edict was confirmed by Louis XIII. in 1622, 
though afterwards repealed in 1685 by Lewis XIV. In 
other countries where the sovereigns received the reform- 
ation, it was settled more early. 



CHAP. IX 

THE CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE FIFTH AGE. 

Apoc, chap. ix. 10. " And they (the locusts,) had* 
tails like to scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and 
their power was to hurt men five months. And they hadf 
over them, 

V. 11. U A king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose 
name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon : m 
Latin, Exterminans, that is, Destroyer." 

* In the Greek text, " have." t In the Greek, " have." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 173 

We shall now proceed to the second period of time, which 
begins with the above 10th verse, and is of equal duration 
with the first, that is, consists of 150 years. 

That here begins a new period of five months, or 150 
years, different from that mentioned in verse the 5th, is not a 
groundless supposition, but is proved by the following reasons. 
First, the expression of five months being twice used, 
namely, in verse 5th and verse 10th, sufficiently argues a 
double period. For whoever studies the Apocalypse, will 
find in it such extreme precision, that the same thing is never 
repeated in the same circumstances ; that every word ex- 
presses some particular object, and is so necessary in its place, 
that it cannot be taken away without maiming the sense. 
One may therefore conclude from the nature of this divine 
revelation, that the repeated mention of five months indicates 
the distinction of a double period. Sir Isaac Newton ac- 
knowledged the same distinction, but applied it to a different 
subject. Secondly, the Greek text shows the same very 
plainly, and even the place where the first period expires 
and the second begins. In the verses 8th and 9th, the de- 
scription proceeds by the repeated expression, they had ; but 
at the 10th verse the expression is suddenly changed into 
they have, and continues so to the end of the description. This 
sudden change of time from they had, to they have, clearly 
points out 4 transition from one period to another. And in 
this very same 10th verse, where the transition takes place, 
is immediately subjoined the second mention of five months. 

The distinction of two periods, each of 150 years, being 
thus stated : as the first began with the reformation about the 
year 1525, and expired at 1675, the second will reach to 1825. 
We are now to see what account our inspired writer gives of 
the reformation in this latter period. It is mostly contained 
in the 10th verse, which we shall here put down conformable 
to the Greek text. " They (the locusts,) have tails like unto 
scorpions, and there were stings in their tails : and their power, 
was to hurt men five months." Here the locusts are said to have 
tails, that resemble whole scorpions with stings in them. 
This allegory describes very emphatically the angry temper 
of the protestants, and their implacable enmity to those of the 
Catholic communion. Whoever presumes to abridge that 
41 evangelical liberty,' 1 which is their idol, they immediately 
declaim against the attempt, chaf£ and threaten, like scor- 
pions, to sting. They still retain a good share of that 
factious and violent temper, with which they first propagated 
15* 



174 HISTORY 09 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

their religion, and which during this period breaks out on 
different occasions, to the disturbing of public peace, and 
alarming the sovereigns, as experience sufficiently shows. 
On another hand, though the reformation, as we have seen, 
was settled and secured, and in some kingdoms is the re- 
ligion of the state ; yet it retains a persecuting spirit against 
those of the ancient faith. The protestants show they are 
armed with scorpion's stings, with which they angrily threaten, 
and they have still a power to hurt very sorely. They have, 
in this latter period, increased the number of inhuman laws 
made before against the Catholics ; and these laws, perhaps 
indeed less severe than the former, have been at times more 
or less put in execution. In the preceding period they 
were allowed " to torment mankind," v. 5 ; but in the present 
period it is said, their power is to hurt mankind. The ex- 
pression of hurting, as it is of a milder import than that of 
tormenting, indicates an abatement of their first rage, and a 
more moderate behaviour towards those they repute their 
enemies. This is a blessing, for which the Catholics offer 
just tribute of thanks to the Almighty, and acknowledge the 
humanity of those from whose hands the favour immediately 
comes. But, notwithstanding the moderate and generous 
disposition of some, there are always other malevolent indi- 
viduals, who cannot wholly drop that animosity they imbibed 
in a misguided education, and will endeavour to force the 
magistrates to the execution of the laws against their fellow- 
creatures. Thus they threaten with their stings, or on oc- 
casions exercise against the Catholics their ill-will and 
power of hurting, as evidently appeared by the violence 
committed in the riots of the year 1780 [in England.] But 
this disposition of providence ought to be received by the 
sufferers in the view for which it is designed, namely, for 
quickening and maintaining their zeal ; and it brings with it 
this comfort, that the suffering of persecution has always 
been the characteristic of the Church of Christ. " If they 
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." John xv. 20. 
We have now seen the prophetical history of the reformation. 
The description is full and circumstantial, and takes in the 
period of 300 years. In the first place was exhibited to us 
its rise ; then the general character of it ; and thirdly, the 
nature and degree of its power. These accounts are com- 

firised in the six first verses of the ninth chapter. Then fol- 
ows the description of the character, temper, and spirit of the 
chief reformers, and their proselytes, with the successive altera- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 175 

tion of their power, as settled by the Almighty hand, Which 
account is traced out in the verses 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, in an 
admirable manner, by the progressive description of the locusts 
from head to tail. This allegorical delineation is drawn with 
such exquisite art, that it cannot, we believe, be equalled by 
any thing produced from profane writers. But of this ex- 
traordinary picture there yet remains to be exhibited the last 
stroke of the prophetic pencil, which is: And they (the locusts) 
have over them a king, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose 
name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon ; in 
Latin, Exterminans, that is, Destroyer. St. John, after giving 
us the history of the surprising revolution made in the Church 
by the Reformation, closes it by letting us into the secret of the 
means, by which it was contrived, was carried on, and is still 
preserved. He tells us, the locusts or the people of the re- 
formation have over them a king, who is an angel of the 
bottomless pit, that is, an angel of hell, or a devil. Here then 
we see the original contriver and director of the whole work. 
Here we see who has been through the whole progress their 
prompter, their chief, and their king. But who would envy 
them such a king? or who would choose to be a subject of 
such a sovereign % The name of this infernal spirit is even 
given; he is called Abaddon, or Exterminator, Abolisher, 
Destroyer. By this name his character is sufficiently clear. 
As pride is attributed to Lucifer, and to other fiends are 
ascribed special qualities ; so here the evil spirit, who is the 
king of the reformation, is distinguished by the character of 
exterminating and destroying. One cannot but lament the 
misfortune of the protestants, in voluntarily admitting over 
them such a king, and enlisting under his banner. A second 
misfortune is; they have been too faithful in their allegiance. 
We have already given a sufficient relation of their violent 
proceedings in the different countries, where the reformation 
got entrance. We specified some part of the conspiracies, 
tumults, rebellions, and civil wars it gave rise to, and the 
subversion of states which ensued. Could such scenes be 
conducted by another but the king Abaddon the destroying 
angel ? 

With respect to the Church, how many articles of faith, 
which are reckoned essential to religion, have they not ex- 
ploded, as may be seen in the Council of Trent ? The holy 
sacraments also, those channels of divine grace, have they not 
reduced to two, or rather one, viz. Baptism? the Eucharist in 
the opinion of many of their sect containing nothing more 



176 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

than mere bread and wine? Even baptism itself is affirmed 
by some of them to be only a ceremony, not necessary for 
salvation. The rites and ceremonies which form the exterior 
part of religion, and which greatly contribute to raise its dig- 
nity, and by impressing an awful respect on the minds of the 
faithful, increase their devotion, the reformation has almost 
entirely abolished. They have exterminated the spiritual 
jurisdiction of the see of Rome, acknowledged in all foregoing 
ages, and they have chosen Abaddon for their governor and 
king, instead of Christ's vicegerent. In the same manner 
they have exploded part of the canonical scriptures, church 
traditions, councils, fathers, the ecclesiastical canons and dis- 
cipline. They have abrogated the most noble and august 
sacrifice which Christ bequeathed to his church, and thus 
have reduced the Christian community to a worse condition 
than either the Mosaic or patriarchal state, by leaving it with- 
out any sacrifice at all. They have also abrogated most of 
the exercises of mortification, so much recommended by our 
Saviour, and practised by the apostles and all antiquity; such 
as fasting, abstinence, continency, penance, self-denial, &c. 
They have exterminated confession, that great bridle to licen- 
tiousness and vice. They have condemned religious vows of 
poverty, chastity, and obedience : that path of Christian per- 
fection, which has been trodden by thousands, and entitled so 
many of them to the beatitude of saints. They have de- 
stroyed monastaries, pulled down churches, trampled under 
foot the images of Jesus Christ, of his holy Mother, and his 
Saints. They have robbed the faithful of that salutary and 
comfortable help they had always found in the Invocation 
of the Saints, by whose intercession, through the merits of 
Christ, such plentiful graces and blessings have derived to 
men. They even dared to profane with sacrilegious hands 
the sacred remains of the martyrs and confessors of God. 
In many places they forcibly took up the saints' bodies from 
the repositories where they were kept, burned them, and 
scattered their ashes abroad. What can be a more atrocious 
indignity ? Are parricides, or the most flagitious villians, 
ever worse treated 1 Thus, among other instances, in the 
year 1562 the Calvinists broke open the shrine of St. Francis 
of Paula, at Plessis-lestours, and finding his body uncorrupted 
fifty-five years after his death, they dragged it about the 
streets, and burned it in a fire which they had made with the 
wood of a great crucifix ; as Billet and other historians relate. 
Thus, at Lyons, in the same year, the Calvinists seized upon 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 177 

the shrine of St. Bonaventure, stripped it of its riches, burned 
his relics in the market-place, ana threw his ashes into the 
river Saone, as is related by the learned Possevinus, who was 
then in that city. The bodies also of St. Irenceus, St. Hilary, 
and St. Martin, as Surius asserts, were treated in the same 
ignominious manner. Such also was the treatment offered to 
the remains of St. Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, whose 
rich shrine, according to the words of Stowe, in his annals, 
" was taken to the king's use, and the bones of St. Thomas, 
by command of Lord Cromwell, were burnt to ashes, in Sep- 
tember, 1538, of Henry VIII. the thirtieth." ! Thus the re- 
formation waged war against the dead and against the elect of 
God ; as if sanctity had become infamous, and to have spilt 
their blood in the cause of Christ was now to be judged 
criminal. 

Thus the facts evince the universal devastation, carried 
through the Christian Church by the reformed religion. 
And thus it appears who was the founder of that new religion, 
its architect, its king, namely, the angel of the bottomless pit, 
Abaddon, the exterminator. One may however further ob- 
serve that, in order to manifest more clearly the accomplish- 
ment of this prophecy about the locusts, Almighty God seems 
to have ordained that the chiefs of the reformation should 
themselves give testimony of it. Luther, the primary head, 
avowed and proclaimed to the world, that he had a conference 
with the devil about some articles of the religion he was then 
devising, that he had been convinced by the arguments of that 
spirit of falsehood, and directed in the determinations he should 
take. Thus he opens that famous colloquy : " Some time since,' ' 
says Luther, " I awaked from my sleep, and behold the devil, 
who had made it his business to occasion me many sorrowful 
and restless nights, began a dispute with me in my mind." 
" Dost thou hear," said he, " most excellent doctor ?" " Dost 
thou not know, that thou hast said private masses almost 
every day for fifteen years together? and what, if in those 
masses thou hast practised downright idolatry," &c. ? Lib. 
de Missa privata, et sacerdotum unctione. Luther answers 
the devil in defending what he had done. The fiend pretends 
to prove his charge, by telling Luther, he must have been 
guilty of idolatry, because he had no true faith at that time, 
and consequently no ordination. By w T hich it seems that the 
devil's attempt was to persuade the reformer, that there was 
neither true faith nor true ordination in the Catholic Church 
at that time, when he professed himself a member of it and 



178 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

said mass. As if the Church of God had been extinguished, 
notwithstanding the solemn promise of Christ that " the gates 
Gf hell should never prevail against it." The spirit of dark- 
ness urges likewise the unlawfulness of saying a mass, in 
which no one communicates but the priest : as if Christ had 
given any precept on this head. But without taking the 
trouble to confute minutely the devil's arguments, I presume 
every sensible man will allow that Luther, instead of giving 
any assent to them, should have rejected them with contempt, 
as so many certain impostures, and charged his antagonist 
with being the known enemy of truth. He should have re- 
buked him at once with the words of our Saviour, " Away 
with thee, Satan." Matth. iv. 10. " Thou wast a murderer 
from the beginning, and thou stoodest not in the truth ; be- 
cause truth is not in thee; when thou speakest a lie, thou 
speakest from thy own, for thou art a liar, and the father of 
lies." John viii. 44. But the reformer, instead of foiling his 
adversary with these arms, gives him up the victory, allows 
his own conviction, and triumphs in the imaginary discovery ; 
concluding thus: by these means " we are freed from private 
masses, and from the ordination of bishops — Let them con- 
sider how they can defend their Church." And from that 
time he desisted from saying mass. 

Zuinglius, in like manner, while he was in great perplexity 
and deep meditation how to explode the real presence in the 
Eucharist, was furnished with an argument for that purpose 
by a nocturnal monitor, " whether black or white he did not 
remember;" as he relates himself, Lib. de subsidio Euchar. 

The whole explication here given of the allegory of the 
locusts, we presume, appears so consonant to the history of 
the reformation, that the propriety of it will not be denied. 
Nor ought the author to be censured for presumption, since 
he is not the first who has thus applied that prophecy. La 
Chetardie did so, about the end of the last century. Bellar- 
mine did the same towards the end of the century before, and 
others had preceded him, as he testifies. In general, it appears 
from the writers of that period, that, no sooner did the nume- 
rous tribe of reformed religionists spring forth, than the Catho- 
lics, as if by a sudden inspiration, judged they saw the locusts 
of the Apocalypse. The application is even so obvious, that the 
learned protestant divine, Dr. Walton, used it for describing the 
multitude of new sectaries, that swarmed out of the English 
Church. Thus speaks he in the preface to his Polyglot: 
" The bottomless pit seems to have been set open, from whence 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 179 

a smoke has arisen which has darkened the heavens and the 
stars, and locusts are come out with stings, a numerous race 
of sectaries and heretics, who have renewed all the ancient 
heresies, and invented many monstrous opinions of their own. 
These have filled our cities, villages, camps, houses, nay our 
pulpits too, and lead the poor deluded people with them to the 
pit of perdition." 

The short sketches we have given from the general history 
of the reformation for the illustration of the text, we hope 
will be deemed sufficient, especially considering the limits of 
this work. It would be endless to attempt a narrative of all 
the different parties into which the reformation has been split. 
They are not even to be enumerated. But one may in general 
observe, that its case is the same with that of all the heresies 
in preceding ages. Variation was always their character. 
Thus it was with the Arians, with the Pelagians, with the 
Eutychians, &c. They never remained steady to their first 
plan of religion, nor could they keep their proselytes within 
the boundaries they first prescribed to them. St. Hilary, 
writing to the Emperor Constantius, thus speaks of the Ari- 
ans : " Your case is the same with that of unskilful architects, 
who are never pleased with their own work ; you do nothing 
but build up and pull down. — There are now as many models 
of faith as men, as great a variety of doctrines as manners ; 
we have yearly and monthly creeds ; we repent of our old 
creeds, we frame new ones, and those again we condemn." 
Such was the confusion among the Arians. The number of 
different confessions of faith made by the Lutherans and the 
other reformed churches, demonstrates in like manner the in- 
stability of their doctrine. They never could agree among 
themselves, nor could they ever settle their tenets ; as is fully 
shown and related in the " History of the Variations" by the 
celebrated Bishop of Meaux. Not content with what they 
pretended to have reformed, they would still go on reforming, 
without knowing where to stop. But indeed what wonder 
that people are bewildered, when they have no sure guide to 
direct them ? The Church which Christ had commanded 
every body to hear,* they had left, and thus became solitary, 
they wandered in unknown paths into w^hich the spirit of se- 
duction led them. Faith is one, but error easily multiplies, 
having the devil for its parent, who hates truth and concord. 
Abaddon, who contrived and conducted the reformation, was 
also the author of its divisions and contradictions, and the 
♦ Matt, xviii. 17. and Luke x. 16. 



180 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

" lying spirit in the mouth of all its prophets." 3 Kings xxxii, 
22. He still continues to actuate it in the same manner ; and 
hence we see rise up every day new teachers, who, dissatisfied 
with what they find established, are ever proposing amend- 
ments and innovations. What idea can we form of a religion 
or an institution composed of such a number of dissonant parts ; 
and, cameleon like, varying its colours every day ? What 
idea, I say, can we form of it, but of a monster, such as St. 
John describes it under the type of a frightful deformed locust, 
which has a man's face, a woman's hair, a lion's teeth, an 
iron breast, and a scorpion for its tail ? In fine, the license of 
judging for himself being the claim of every member of the 
new religion, what could it produce, but what experience 
shows to have really happened, a defection from all religion 7 
Some, uneasy under any restraint, declare themselves indiffer- 
ent to every form of doctrine and worship, and are styled 
44 Latitudinarians ;" others, contenting themselves with the 
simple belief of a God, renounce all divine revelation, and 
are denominated " Deists" or ' 4 Free-thinkers ;" and some are 
even said to be sunk into mere materialism, that is, to believe 
no future state at all. 44 They who have made bold with one 
article of faith," said St. Vincent of Lerins in the fifth century, 
44 will proceed on to others ; and what will be the consequence 
of this reforming of religion, but only that these refiners will 
never have done, till they have reformed it quite away?" 
Common, c. 29. 

How different is the government and proceeding of the 
Catholic Church ! Founded on the rock which is Christ, and 
governed by him according to his promise, she is always uni- 
form and unanimous in her doctrine. Her faith is alw T ays the 
same. She received it from her divine Founder, and she pre- 
serves the sacred depositum inviolable. No jarring opinions, 
no innovations are allowed on that head. When a dogmati- 
cal point is to be determined, she speaks but once, and her 
decree is irrevocable. The first general council of Nice de- 
clared her faith against the Arians ; the council of Constanti- 
nople against the Macedonians ; the council of Ephesus 
against the Nestorians ; that of Chalcedon against the Eu- 
tychians; the second of Nice against the Iconoclasts : and so 
through the whole period of the Christian aera. These 
solemn determinations have remained unalterable, and will 
ever be so. Pursuing invariably the same course, she assem- 
bled in a general council at Trent in 1545, where, having 
examined the principal articles of the new reformed doctrine, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 181 

she pronounced them heretical, and condemned them as such : 
and this decision will stand an unperishable monument of 
the true faith against the protestant religion to the end of the 
world. 

Now we must add another observation. Let us take notice 
that the angel of the bottomless pit, who was the author of 
the reformation, is by our prophet named in Hebrew, Abad- 
don, and in Greek, Apollyon.* Now, though the Greek 
word Apollyon means the same as the Hebrew word Abad- 
don, viz. destroyer, nevertheless, from the extraordinary con- 
ciseness used throughout the whole Apocalypse, one may cer- 
tainly conclude that St. John means something particular in 
giving the name of that hellish fiend in two languages. Let 
us now observe, that the Hebrew language preceded the Greek. 
That fiend therefore acted his part, first, under his name 
Abaddon, in setting up the reformation. Let us now take a 
view of the second of his mischievous operations under the 
name of Apollyon, or destroyer. To see this we need only 
cast our eyes upon what has lately happened in several coun- 
tries, as in Germany, and especially in France, where Apol- 
lyon has raised such a spirit of licentious liberty, wild 
independence, and introduced such a decay of religion, that 
immense evils have followed. What excesses ! What extrava- 
gances have thence originated ! What blasphemies against 
the Almighty ! What contempt of his worship! both divine 
and human laws trampelled under foot. What Luciferian 
pride and arrogance in rebelling against their Creator and 
their God, and even denying his existence. What impious 
and inhuman proceedings against his vicegerent ! Combina- 
tions and conspiracies against sovereign princes and go- 
vernments ! Persecutions against the ministers of religion ! 
Cruelty in despoiling their fellow-creatures of their property, 
and spilling their blood by murders and massacres! 

These are the horrible devastations operated by that infer- 
nal fiend under his character of Apollyon, destroyer, which 
make up the second part of his agency. — In the primitive 
ages of Christianity, Satan upheld idolatry, and opposed with 
all his might the establishment of the Christian religion. He 
raised cruel persecutions against the Christian proselytes: 
but finding himself foiled and defeated in all his efforts, he 
then turned his hellish malice another way, and set to work 

•His Latin name, Exterminans, there subjoined, is not m the original 
text : it has been added merely by way of interpreting the meaning of the 
words, Abaddon and Apollyon. 

16 



1 82 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

to divide the Christians among themselves, to suscitate intes- 
tine quarrels, heresies, flames of mutual hatred, and exciting 
them to persecute one another with furious violence. — In a 
similar manner that angel of the abyss, which Satan has 
employed as his agent in this fifth period of the Christian 
Church, in his character of Abaddon, effected his first de- 
structive work of the reformation. When stopped and not 
allowed to make further progress in that pursuit, he then in 
the latter part of his agency has machinated and contrived to 
throw division among the Catholics themselves in different 
countries, particularly in that ancient and once flourishing 
Catholic kingdom of France ; and it is well known through- 
out the whole world, what pernicious effects have been the 
consequence 

V. 12. "One wo is past." The period of 300 years as- 
signed to the power of the locusts, being expired, St. John 
then adds : " one wo is past." Before the angel sounded 
the fifth trumpet, see p. 141, three woes were pronounced to 
follow the sounding of the three. last trumpets, namely, fifth, 
sixth, and seventh. And now the prophet tells us, that the 
first of these woes, which was announced by the fifth trumpet, 
is past. This wo therefore is the calamity occasioned by the 
swarm of locusts. I leave it to the reader to determine, 
whether the breaches and desolation made in the Church of 
Christ, as we have seen, by the reformation, be not truly a dis- 
mal woe, and worse than any that has happened in the fore- 
going ages. Some part of this wo must also be referred to 
the convulsions that happened in different countries, particu- 
larly in France, and the impious attacks made there upon 
religion, as explained above. 

When one reflects that, of the three hundred years allowed 
to the reign of the locusts, there remain only fifty or fifty-five 
to run,* one cannot but wish with an earnest heart that the 
people represented by those insects would enter into a serious 
consideration of that circumstance. What a happiness ! if, 
Hnrmor this short remaining interval, some part of them at 
least would submit to see their errors, and the great mischief 
that has been done to the Church by their revolt against it. 
It is full time to lay down all animosity against their ancient 
mother, think of a reconciliation, and ask to be received again 
into her bosom. She is an indulgent parent, and her arms 
are always open, even to her rebellious children, when they 
come in tears to implore her forgiveness. They should be 
♦This work was first printed in the year 1771. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 183 

sensible, that Christ is not only the protector of his beloved 
spouse, the Church, but also the avenger of the injuries done 
to her. This power he has frequently exerted. The four 
preceding ages furnish us with the most evident proofs of it, 
under the respective four vials of the wrath of God. She was 
revenged in the punishment of her persecutors, the Roman 
emperors, in the first age. The Arians, who impugned her 
faith and harassed her cruelly in the second age, felt also the 
avenging hand of the Son of God, whom with his Church 
they had blasphemed : after sore calamities, they were doomed 
to sink into annihilation. The third age exhibited to us a 
most conspicuous exertion of a two-edged sword of Christ, in 
the destruction of the cruel idolatrous Romans, for their 
having spilt the blood of his and his spouses children. The 
fourth age was distinguished by the punishment of the Greeks 
for their rebellion against the same Church, and the world 
still sees them groaning under slavery for their inflexible 
obstinacy. Such having been the conduct of the supreme 
guardian of his Church through the course of all the Christ- 
ian ages, is it not an object of consideration highly interesting 
to the protestants, lest some such disaster should also be their 
fate? The Saviour of mankind waits with patience for the 
return of his strayed sheep, but their obstinacy at last forces 
his hand to strike. Unhappy children of the reformation ! 
refuse not to hear the wholesome advice of the prophet 
Isaiah : " Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found ; call 
upon him, while he is near," lv. 6. Hear the voice of God 
speaking of Israel, and make the application : u Return, O 
virgin of Israel, return to thy cities," Jerem. xxxi. 21. And 
again: "Be converted, O house of Israel, and do penance 
for all your iniquities ; and iniquity shall not be your ruin. 
Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you 
have transgressed, and make to yourselves a new heart, and 
a new spirit: and why will you die, O house of Israel ? For 
I desire not the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God ; 
return ye, and live." Ezech. xviii. 30, 31, 32. But if, deaf 
to all admonitions, they continue hardened in their own ways, 
what remains to be done but to lament their misfortune, and 
in bitterness of soul turn our eyes from the pouring out of 
the following vial : 

The pouring out of the fifth Vial of the Wrath of God. 
Apoc. chap. xvi. 10. " And the fifth angel, (says St. John,) 



184 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

poured out his vial upon the seat* of the beast: and his king- 
dom became dark, and they gnawed their tongues for pain. 

V. 11. "And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because 
of their pains and wounds, and did not penance for their 
works." 

Here the angel pours out the fifth vial of the wrath of 
God on the seat of the beast, or rather, according to the Greek 
text, on the throne of the beast. We have observed in the 
prelude to the vials, see page 34, that the general term beast, 
has a double meaning, signifying idolatry or heresy, accord- 
ingly as either, like to a wild beast, makes its ravages in 
the Church. In the first and third ages it denoted idolatry, 
the subject of the history of those two ages. Here it is the 
image of heresy, the heresy of the reformation, the charac- 
teristic of the fifth age. tJpon the throne therefore of this 
beast the vial is poured out, that is, upon the kings and go- 
ernors of the protestant states, as they are the persons that sit, 
vested with power, upon the thrones of those heretical king- 
doms. They, however, are themselves subordinate to their 
chief Abaddon, who, as was specified in the text of the trum- 
pet, commands over all, and sits upon the throne as king par- 
amount. The protestant states become, of course, involved 
with their princes in the calamities poured out from the vial, 
as we shall see presently. 

But furthermore we may observe that, besides the single 
and general appellation of beast used here to express heresy, 
the prophet exhibits to us in the trumpet of this age a particu- 
lar beast, by which he represents and describes the heresy of 
the reformation, namely, a locust-monster, which is partly lo- 
cust, partly human, partly leonine, and partly scorpionic. 

Besides the obvious propriety of the above explication oi 
the vial, a further argument may be adduced in confirmation 
of it. Though the different prophecies of the Apocalypse are 
involved in obscurity, yet one may observe the inspired wri- 
ter generally throws in some glimpses of light to guide the 
solicitous inquirer. Thus may be remarked a fixed connex- 
ion between the trumpets of the different ages and the respec- 
tive vials, of which we have already taken some notice. This 
consists in the use of the same expression in the trumpet and 
vial of the same age; which naturally leads us to the distin- 
guishing of the object on which the vial is poured. This ob- 
ject, if not precisely the same as mentioned in the trumpet, it 
has at least a direct relation to it. In general, the vial has for 
* In the Greek " the throne." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 185 

object the guilty part which is to be punished, and which is 
always pointed out in the trumpet. Examples will elucidate 
the present observation. In the first trumpet it is said, that 
hail and fire, mixed with blood* were cast upon the earth. 
In like manner the first vial was poured out upon the earth. 
The same term, the earth* occurring in both* indicates that, 
as the trumpet described the persecations exercised by the 
Roman emperors and magistrates on the Christian part of the 
earth, so these emperors and magistrates, who are the guilty 
part of the earth, and plainly alluded to in the trumpet, are 
the object of punishment on which the vial is poured. After 
the same manner, at the sounding of the second trumpet, a 
great fiery mountain was cast into the sea : and the second 
vial is also poured out upon the sea. From whence one may 
collect that, as Arianism, signified by the fiery mountain, in* 
fected a third part of the Christian sea ; so upon the Arians, 
who are there exhibited as the guilty part of the sea, the vial 
is poured. Again, the third trumpet announced a great star, 
burning like a torch, falling upon the rivers and fountains of 
waters. In like manner the third vial is poured upon the ri- 
vers and fountains of waters. The trumpet here describes the 
desolation carried on by the barbarians through the guilty 
heathen Roman empire ; therefore on this same empire is the 
vial poured. Lastly, at the sounding of the fourth trumpet 
the sun w T as smitten; and the fourth vial was also poured out 
upon the sun. The allegory, used here in the trumpet, de- 
notes the schism of the Greeks ; upon them, therefore, as the 
guilty, the vial is poured ; or rather, it is poured on the in- 
strument of the scourge, to fit it for execution. This con- 
stant relation observed between the above-mentioned trumpets 
and vials, holds equally between the fifth trumpet and vial. 
In the trumpet we see the locusts are ruled by a king, the an- 
gel of the bottomless pit, whose name is Abaddon. The vial 
is poured out upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom 
becomes dark. On one side then we have the king of the 
locusts : on the other side we have the throne and the king- 
dom. Hence appears the connexion between the fifth trum- 
pet and fifth vial. This vial is therefore poured out upon the 
princes and the states of the locust kingdom. 

In fine, we saw in the first trumpet the Roman emperors 
persecuting the Christian religion; and the first vial was 
poured upon them. In the second trumpet we saw the Ari- 
ans rebelling against the Church ; and the second vial was 
poured upon them. In the third trumpet we saw the Roman 
16* 



186 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

empire declining on account of its idolatry and enmity to 
Christianity ; and the third vial was poured upon it, to ex- 
tinguish it. In the fourth trumpet we saw the revolt of the 
Greeks against the Church, and the fourth vial punished 
them. In the fifth trumpet we see the protestants revolting 
against the Church ; upon whom then must the fifth vial fall? 

The vial being poured upon the throne of the beast, it flows 
down from thence over his whole kingdom, the realm of the 
reformation; For, "his kingdom became dark, and they 
gnawed their tongues for pain." But with respect to the na» 
ture of this punishment* we shall be entirely silent* and leave 
it to be disclosed by the event. We shall only remark that, 
to judge from the expression of the text, the scourge seems to 
be severe, and we are extremely sorry it will be so ill recei- 
ved : " And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of 
their pains and wounds, (or sores,) and did not penance for 
their works." 

We shall here add another remark. The expression, they 
gnawed their tongues for pain, or rather, as it is in the Greek 
original, they did gnaw their tongues for pain, seems to refer 
to a time prior to that which follows, and is thus expressed, 
they blasphemed, &c. and may therefore relate to the first 
part of the punishments imported by this vial, which may be 
the scourge inflicted on the French people, and perhaps others, 
and seems to indieate distress of famine, &c. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE HISTORY OF THE SIXTH AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN 

CHURCH. 

Hitherto the account we find in history of the different 
ages, has contributed to explain the prophecies relating to 
them : but with respect to the age we are now entering upon, 
as it yet remains sealed up in the womb of futurity, we can 
have no light but what must be drawn from the prophecies 
themselves. And because prophecies are generally concei- 
ved in few words, and those veiled with obscurity, it cannot 
be expected we should give so clear and comprehensive a his- 
tory of the sixth age, as has been done in the preceding pa- 



HISTORY Of THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 187 

riods. We may however acknowledge here an unexpected 
assistance, which was not allowed us before, inasmuch as that 
part of the Apocalypse which treats of the sixth age, seems 
to be expressed in somewhat clearer terms than any other, at 
least it appears so to us. The reason we may conceive to be, 
that the Almighty revealer of it is willing to give us before- 
hand a tolerable intelligence of transactions that will touch us 
so nearly, and will be more terrible and trying to human na- 
ture, than any that have ever happened. By a previous, 
though imperfect, knowledge of dreadful calamities, we are 
warned to prepare for them. An impending evil, even the 
sentence of death itself, is less alarming when foreseen and 
expected. On that account therefore the divine bounty is 
pleased to be more copious and explicit in the revelations 
about the sixth age ; and our prospect of it is further enlarged 
by many particular scenes to be found in the ancient prophets, 
which concur to throw an additional light over the whole pic- 
ture. These are helps which, doubtless, serve in some mea- 
sure to promote and facilitate the present work ; but it must be 
confessed, the obscurity that still remains is such, and other 
difficulties so numerous, as necessarily to demand the indul- 
gence of the critic. 

The preceding five ages opened with the transactions con- 
tained under their respective seals. In like manner we shall 
now begin the epocha of the sixth and the last age of the 
Church in this world, with the events announced at the open 
ing of the sixth seal. 

The Opening of the Sixth Seal. 

Apoc. chap. vi. 12. " And I saw," says St. John, " when 
he (the Lamb) had opened the sixth seal : and behold there 
was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sack- 
cloth of hair : and the whole moon became as blood. 

V. 13. " And the stars from heaven fell upon the earth, as 
the fig-tree casteth its green figs when it is shaken by a great 
wind : 

V. 14. "And the heaven departed as a book folded up; 
and every mountain and the islands were moved out of their 
places. 

V. 15. " And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and 
tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman, 
and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the 
rocks of mountains. 

V 16. "And they say to the mountains, and the rocks: 



188 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on 
the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 

V. 1 7. " For the great day of their wrath* is come, and 
who shall be able to stand ?" 

Here are stupendous prodigies and dreadful disasters an- 
nounced, many of which cannot be now clearly explained, 
but will be very conspicuous to those who shall exist at that 
time. They are the forerunners of the approaching general 
dissolution of the world, and are employed to announce the 
last terrible judgment, and to admonish mankind to prepare 
for it. If the idea, which is conveyed to us by the simple 
description of these wonders, strikes us with terror, how 
dreadful must they appear when they really happen ! great 
earthquakes ; the sun darkened to such a degree as if 
covered with black hair-cloth, and the moon reddening like 
blood : the stars seeming to fall from the heavens as thick 
as green figs are shaken from the trees in a hurricane of 
wind : the sky appearing to fold up like a roll of parchment ; 
and all the mountains and islands moved out of their places, 
perhaps by earthquakes and extremely vehement agitations of 
the sea. These tremendous phenomena, some real, others 
appearing to the human eye, show the violent convulsions 
nature will sustain, and the general confusion of the whole 
created system. At the sight of such events, what wonder 
if the wicked of every rank and denomination run to hide 
themselves for fear, as St. John tells us, and from the con- 
sciousness of their guilt suspect the great day is arrived, and 
that the Almighty is coming to judgment, which will make 
them wish that the mountains and rocks would fall upon them, 
to shelter them from the face of their angry God, and from the 
wrath of the Lamb. 

The description here given by our Christian prophet seems 
to specify only the principal and most terrible of the signs 
and calamities that will happen in the last period of the 
world : and in them one may understand are comprehended 
those that are of a less destructive and terrifying nature. 
Some or-other of these alarms we may suppose will open the 
sixth age, and will serve to fix the date of the epocha. They 
will continue to alarm mankind at different times during 
the course of that period, to remind them of the approaching 
end of the world. We may also observe that some of these 
striking events are likewise announced by the ancient pro- 
phets, and shall be taken notice of in proper places. The 
* In the Greek, w his wrath." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 189 

extraordinary signs and prodigies both in the heavens and 
on the earth here described, evidently speak the majesty and 
power of him, whose approaching coming they are de- 
signed to announce. They therefore necessarily tend to 
reflect that glory on the Lamb, which was said to be his due. 
Apoc. v. 12. 

The nature of the subject seems to require we should sub* 
join to the preceding account that other, which our Saviour 
himself gives of the same or similar prodigies. The assem- 
blage of both will contribute to enlarge our knowledge of 
that interesting subject; and the comparison of them may 
serve as a proof, that the expressions used by St. John are to 
be taken in their natural acceptation, and not in a metapho- 
rical sense, as some might imagine ; many of his expressions 
being similar to those of our Saviour, which have been 
generally understood in their natural sense. 

The account which Christ delivered of the prodigies we 
are speaking of, is to be found in St. Matthew, chap. 24. St. 
Mark, chap. 13, and St. Luke, chap. 21. His disciples 
having asked him by what signs they should know the ap- 
proaching ruin of Jerusalem, and also what signs would 
precede the general dissolution of the world, Christ answers 
both questions. But in the first part of his answer he seems 
to assign the same prodigies for announcing both those 
events : as the destruction of Jerusalem may be a very ex- 
pressive figure of the destruction of the world. And in this 
sense the holy fathers have explained his discourse. In the 
latter part of his answer, Christ seems to confine himself 
solely to the pointing out of the signs, which will be the 
presages of the approaching end of all things. 

He thus begins his discourse: " Take heed that no man 
seduce you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am 
He, I am Christ ; and the time is at hand ; and they will 
seduce many : go you not therefore after them." The ap- 
pearance of false Christs or false Messiahs was then the first 
mentioned by our Saviour, and first warning of the ap- 
proaching fate of Jerusalem. That many such impostors 
rose up in Judea before the demolition of Jerusalem by the 
Romans, we learn from Josephus, in his history of the Jewish 
wars. It is here the opinion of the holy fathers, that Christ 
intended also to intimate by the preceding words, that false 
Christs will arise in a similar manner in the last age of the 
world, and be a sign of its approaching end. 

Our Saviour proceeds : " You shall hear of wars 



190 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 

and rumours of wars: See that you be not troubled. Fot 
these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, 
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against 
kingdom ; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and 
great earthquakes in divers places, and terrors from heaven, 
and there shall be great signs." These calamities happened 
before the ruin of Jerusalem, as the above-mentioned Jewish 
historian testifies. The same will likewise be experienced* 
it is supposed, in the last age. But Christ adds : " Now all 
these things are the beginnings of sorrows." Though great 
evils, they are only to be deemed the prelude of greater. 
Then he goes on : M But before all these things they will lay 
their hands on you, and persecute you, and put you to deaths" 
&c. Here are the persecutions foretold, which fell upon 
the apostles and first Christians. The same will likewise 
rage in a more fierce manner hereafter under Antichrist. 

" And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce 
many: and because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of 
many shall grow cold." From this rise of false prophets or 
teachers of false doctrine, and the abounding of wickedness, 
before the fall of the Jewish nation, it is concluded by 
the holy fathers that similar unhappy circumstances will take 
place before the finishing of the world. And; indeed, that 
false prophets or false teachers will then arise, we shall see it 
again expressed in the sequel of our Saviour's discourse; and 
that iniquity will likewise abound, is fully intimated by what 
Christ said on another occasion : " When the Son of Man 
cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on the earth ?-" 
Luke xviii. 8. 

" And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the 
whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall 
the consummation come." A new people of Christians was 
to be formed by preaching the gospel, before the Jews, the 
ancient people of God, were rejected, and their city and 
temple abolished. The gospel will likewise be preached with 
extraordinary zeal in the latter times over the whole earth, 
to stem the prevalence of imposture and depravity of morals, 
and to oppose in particular the furious efforts of Antichrist 
against religion. 

" When therefore you shall see the abomination of deso- 
lation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing 
in the holy place, he that readeth, let him understand. When 
you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army, 
then know that the desolation thereof is at hand." Here 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 191 

our Saviour points out to his disciples the most immediate 
sign by which they might know, that the ruin of Jerusalem 
was near at hand ; namely, when they should see an idolatrous 
army arrive, with its heathenish gods, which are the abomi- 
nation of desolation, and invest Jerusalem, that city which 
was always styled the holy place, or holy city. We shall see 
hereafter that Antichrist will also set up what is called u the 
abomination of desolation." 

" Then they that are in Judea," continues Christ, " let 
them flee to the mountains. For there shall be then great 
tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the 
world until now, neither shall be. For these are the days of 
vengeance, that all things may be fulfilled that are written. 
There shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon 
this people. And unless those days had been shortened, no 
flesh would be saved : but for sake of the elect, those days 
shall be shortened. And they (the Jews) shall fall by the 
edge of the sword; and shall be led away captives into 
all nations : and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the 
gentiles till the times of the nations be fulfilled." Thus 
then the calamities and signs having all happened that had 
been foretold by our Saviour, the fatal time fixed for the ven- 
geance of the Almighty was come, and Jerusalem was taken 
and razed to the ground by the Roman army under the com- 
mand of Titus Vespasian; the temple was burned, the Jews 
slaughtered to an immense number, a few were reserved by 
Titus to be carried in triumph to Rome, and the rest w r ere sofd 
for slaves, and dispersed into all nations. This happened in 
the year 70 of the Christian aera. Extreme were the cala- 
mities and miseries that people suffered in this war, by 
the plague, famine, and sword : they were even such as no 
nation had ever felt before. The Jews must have all cer- 
tainly perished, had not God in his mercy shortened those 
days of vengeance for the sake of the elect, that is, for the 
sake of reserving a remnant of that people, who are to 
remain in captivity till the times of the nations be fulfilled, 
that is, till the number of the Gentiles, whom God will call 
to the Christian faith, be filled up ; and then that remnant of 
the Jews will be converted, and acknowledge Christ for their 
Messiah. 

In like manner, before the last coming of Christ to dissolve 
the fabric of the world, the calamities of war that will fall 
upon mankind will be very great, though perhaps somewhat 
inferior to those the Jews experienced on the above occasion. 



192 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

But the persecution which will be exercised by Antichrist 
against the Christians, will exceed in seventy and cruelty 
the persecutions of all past ages. But this dreadful period will 
be shortened by the mercy of God for the sake of his elect, 
and reduced to three years and a half. 

Christ having thus carried on his predictions to the ruin of 
Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews, which is to last to 
the latter time of the world, the sequel of his discourse na- 
turally falls upon the transactions of that last period. " Then 
if any man," says he, "shall say to you: lo, here is Christ, 
or there ; do not believe him. For there shall arise false 
Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and 
wonders, insomuch a s to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 
Behold, I have told it you before hand. If therefore they 
shall say to you : behold, he is in the desert, go ye not out : 
behold, he is in the closets, believe it not." Here is a full 
warning, which ought to be taken notice of, against the false 
Christs and false prophets that will rise up in the last age ; the 
chief of whom will be Antichrist and the false prophet his 
attendant. And what is very alarming, they will have 
power of showing great signs and wonders, in so much as to 
deceive, if possible, even the elect. We shall see the same 
confirmed, by the Apocalypse, in the two above-mentioned im- 
postors. 

A more full account of all these seducers, and of their 
infamous character, is given us in the Epistles of St. Peter and 
St. Paul. " In the last days," says St. Peter, " there shall 
come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts, saying, 
where is his promise of his coming ? for since the time that 
the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the 
beginning of the creation." 2 Ep. iii. 3, 4. " Know also 
this," says St. Paul, " that in the last days shall come on dan- 
gerous times. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, 
haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrate- 
ful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, in- 
continent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors, stubborn, 
puffed up, and lovers of pleasures more than of God; having 
an appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power 
thereof." 2 Tim. iii. 1, &c. The same admonition is given 
us by St. Jude in his Epistle, v. 17, &c. " But you, my 
dearly beloved," says this apostle, "be mindful of the words 
whicn have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord 
Jesus Christ ; who told you, that in the last time there should 
come mockers, walking according to their own desires in 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 193 

ungodliness. These are ihey, who separate themselves, sen- 
sual men, having not the spirit." 

To proceed with our Saviour's discourse : •■ And immedi- 
ately after the tribulation of those days," says he, " the sun 
shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven 
shall be moved. And there shall be upon the earth distress 
of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the 
sea and of the waves, men withering away for fear, and 
expectation of what shall come upon the whole world." 
These previous signals of the end of the world are analogous 
to those described in the Apocalypse, under the sixth seal, as 
will appear by the comparison of the two texts. See the text 
of the Apocalypse given above, page 195. Our Saviour 
says: "The sun shall be darkened." St. John, after the 
opening of the sixth seal, says : " The sun became black as 
sack-cloth of hair." Christ says : " The moon shall not give 
her light." St. John says : " The moon became as blood." 
Christ, continues : u The stars shall fall from heaven." St. 
John in the above-mentioned place: " The stars from heaven 
fell upon the earth, as the fig-tree casteth its green figs when 
it is shaken by a great wind." Christ again: "And the 
powers of heaven shall be moved." St. John : " And the 
heaven departed as a book folded up." Christ again: "And 
there shall be upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of 
the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves." 
St. John in the above place : " And every mountain, and the 
islands, were moved out of their places." Our Saviour pro- 
ceeds : " Men withering away for fear, and expectation of 
what shall come upon the whole world." St. John: "And 
the kings of the earth, and the princes, and tribunes, and the 
rich, and the strong, and every bondman, and every freeman, 
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of mountains. 
And they say to the mountains and the rocks : fall upon us, 
and hide us from the face of him who sitteth upon the throne, 
and from the wrath of the Lamb." Hence it appears that the 
words of our Saviour may be applied as the best interpretation 
of the text of St. John contained under the sixth seal. 

Thus then it appears that the discourse of Christ to his 
disciples, and the text of the Apocalypse under the sixth seal, 
exhibit to us an epitome of the prodigies and disastrous events 
that will distinguish the sixth or last period of time. They 
will be sent as so many warnings of the approaching great 
day of wrath, when Christ will come in his power and ma- 
17 



194 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

jcsty to judge the living and the dead, and put an end to the 
present world. " When you shall see these things come to 
pass," continues Christ, speaking to his disciples, " know that 
the kingdom of God is at hand." Luke xxi. 31. 

Narrative preparatory to the Prophecy of the Sixth Trumpet. 

The sixth or last period of time exhibits many great and 
extraordinary events, which are not all related by St. John, as 
some part of them had already been revealed in former pro- 
phecies. On that account we find it necessary to premise a 
narrative of those facts, which are previous to w r hat is laid 
down in the Apocalypse. If the order, in which we have 
ranged the particulars of this prophetic history, should not 
be approved by the reader, w 7 e desire him to reflect, we travel 
through the dark paths of futurity. 

One event, that will chiefly distinguish the sixth age, and 
will be a prelude to the final period of the human race in 
this world, is the appearance of that extraordinary man, Anti- 
christ. But the way is to be opened for his coming by two 
previous incidents, which we learn from St. Paul, and which 
will enable him to bring on those mischiefs upon mankind, 
and that desolation upon the earth, which the prophets have 
foretold. St. Paul thus w r rites to the Thessalonians in his 
second epistle, chap. 2, 

V*. 1. "And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto 
him, 

V. 2. " That you be not easily moved from your mind, nor 
be frighted, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle as 
sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. 

V. 3. " Let no man deceive you by any means : for unless 
there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the 
son of perdition, 

V. 4. " Who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is 
called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the 
temple of God, showing himself as if he were God. 

V. 5. " Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, 
I told you these things ? 

V. 6. " And now you know what withholdeth, that he may 
be revealed in his time. 

V. 7. u For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only 
that he who now holdeth, do hold until he be taken out of 
the way. 

V. 8. " And then that the wicked one shall be revealed, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 195 

whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the breath of his mouth, 
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 

Here the apostle admonishes the Thessalonians, not to give 
way to terrors, as if the last day was near at hand, assuring 
them that last day would not come, " till there came a revolt 
first, and the man of sin were revealed, the son of per- 
dition, who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of 
God, showing himself as if he were God," v. 3, 4. " By the 
man of sin, the son of perdition," &c. all Christian antiquity 
and the subsequent ages have ever understood that superla- 
tively wicked man, Antichrist. The end of the world there- 
fore will not happen till after this man's appearance ; and also 
after what St. Paul calls a revolt, which, it seems, will be pre- 
vious to Antichrist's coming. This revolt, or, rather according 
to the Greek text, the apostacy, denotes a defection from faith as 
the generality of the scripture-interpreters have understood it. 
Alas ! we have already seen a great flood of apostacy spread 
itself through the western part of Christendom, within the 
last two centuries and a halt by the rise of Lutheranism, 
Calvinism, &c. And this had been preceded in the eastern 
part of the Church by the Greek schism, Mahometanism, 
Arianism, &c. Even St. Paul assures us, he himself saw 
this apostacy, or defection from faith, ushering into the world : 
" for the mystery of iniquity already worketh," says he, v. 7. 
The seeds of it were sown, and had sprung up in the apostle's 
time, in the heretics called Simonians, Nicholases, Gnostics, 
&c. But it will continue to gain ground and to ripen, till it 
comes to full maturity in the time of Antichrist, who by his 
extraordinary power, cruel persecutions, and insidious machi- 
nations, will together with his false prophet, seduce a prodi- 
gious number of Christians. This we shall see in the follow- 
ing part of the Apocalypse: and it is sufficiently intimated 
by our Saviour, as we observed under the sixth seal, in these 
words: " There shall arise false Christ s and false prophets, 
and shall show great signs and great wonders, insomuch as 
to deceive, if possible, even the elect." MattL xxiv. 24. 

Under the term apostacy may be comprehended, not only 
a defection from faith, but also a general degeneracy of 
morals, which already shows itself in the surprising growth 
of licentiousness and irreligion, in a tide of luxury, extrava- 
gance, and profligacy. This inundation of vice paves the 
way for worse, and will spread more and more with the pro- 
gress of time, till it rises to a general flood of wickedness in 



196 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

the infamous dissolute reign of Antichrist. This seems to be 
also pointed at in the following words of Christ: "And 
because iniquity has abounded, the charity of man shall 
grow cold," Matt. xxiv. 12. In fine, this general apostacy, 
with respect to both faith and morality, was likewise fully in- 
sinuated by our Saviour when he said : " When the Son of 
man cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on the earth ?" 
Luke xviii. 8. 

The second circumstance, which will announce the coming 
of Antichrist, is obscurely expressed thus by St. Paul in the 
above cited text: "And now you know what withholdeth, 
that he, (the man of sin, or Antichrist,) be revealed in his 
time. Only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be 
taken out of the way, and then that wicked one, (Antichrist,) 
shall be revealed," v. 6, 7, 8. The generality of the holy 
fathers have explained this text of the destruction of the Ro- 
man empire, which was to take place before Antichrist should 
be revealed. The same interpretation has also been trans- 
mitted through all the Christian ages by a uniform tradition ; 
the ground of which can be no other but the explication St. 
Paul himself had given to the Thessalonians by word of mouth, 
as he tells them in this place: " Remember you not, (says he,) 
that when I was yet with you, I told you these things ¥' v. 5. 
According to the sense here exposed, the Roman empire, 
which held when St. John wrote, was therefore the thing that 
withheld, and was to be taken away, before Antichrist should 
appear. 

" Who holds," says Tertullian, "but the Roman empire? 
the division of which into ten kingdoms will bring on Anti- 
christ : and then, according to the apostle, that wicked one 
shall be revealed." De Resurrect. Carnis cap. 24. St. Jerome, 
relating the above words of the apostle, " only that he who now 
holdeth, doth hold, until he be taken out of the way," writes 
thus: " The apostle by this expression, He who now holdeth, 
indicates the Roman empire : he says it in obscure terms, be- 
cause if he had spoken openly, he would imprudently have 
raised the rage of the persecutors against the Christians, and 
against the Church which was then beginning to rise." In Je- 
rern. c. 25. Again, the same learned doctor of the Church, in 
another place explaining the same passage, says: " Only that 
the Roman empire which holds now all nations under its pow- 
er be taken away, and then Antichrist will come." Epist. 151. 
ad Algas. qu. 11. St. John Chrysostom, interpreting the same 
text, speaks thus : " It may be asked, what St. Paul means 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 197 

when he says * you know what withholdeth, that he may be 
revealed ;' and then, why the apostle speaks so obscurely. He 
has in view the Roman empire • and therefore it is with good 
reason he speaks in obscure enigmatical terms, for fear of ir- 
ritating the Romans. The apostle says then : only that he 
who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way ; 
that is, when the Roman empire shall be removed from the 
face q[ the earth, then Antichrist will come," In 2 Thess. 
Horn. 4. Lactantius, speaking of the last period of the world, 
says : " At that time devastation will overspread the whole 
earth, destroying everything: the cause of which desolation 
will be, that the Roman name (I shudder to say it, but I must 
because it is to be) will be taken away from the earth, and the 
empire will return into Asia ; the East will domineer again, 
and the West be subdued." Lib. 7. c. 15. St. Cyril of Jeru- 
salem writes : " The devil will raise up a famous man, who 
will seize upon the dominion of the Roman empire. That 
man or Antichrist will appear, when the Roman empire is 
come to its period." Catech. 15, St. Augustine, other fathers, 
and the scripture-expositors of latter ages, have explained St. 
Paul's text in the same sense. From hence then it appears 
that St. Paul has disclosed this particular circumstance viz, 
that the Roman empire was to be dissolved before Antichrist 
appeared, and that its dissolution would be a sign of the ap- 
proach of that impious man. 

We have already seen in the history of the third age, that 
the great body of the Roman empire became divided in two : 
the western, which had Rome for its capital ; and the eastern, 
of which Constantinople was constituted capital. We have 
likewise seen, that the western empire was torn in pieces by 
different swarms of northern invaders, Goths, Vandals, Huns, 
Alans, (fee. who parcelled out its provinces among themselves, 
and even burned Rome itself. Upon the destruction of the 
western part, it is plain it could not be said that the whole Ro- 
man empire was extinguished, since the large eastern part 
still subsisted. Besides, it must be remembered, we related 
how the western Roman empire was revived and raised up 
anew, though not to its former grandeur, by Charlemagne, 
who was crowned emperor of it in the year 800. It has con- 
tinued to exist ever since that epoch, and is swayed at present 
by the august house of Austria, and has its seat in Germany. 

Nevertheless, upon the above-mentioned ruin of the western 
state, with Rome its imperial head, which had been looked 
upon as the mighty centre and metropolis of the whole world, 
17* 



198 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

some of the Christians apprehended that, in conformity to the 
above prophecy of St. Paul, the time of Antichrist would soon 
succeed. This seemed to be the sentiment of St. Jerome, who 
lived at that period. " He that held," says he, "is taken out 
of the way, and yet we do not understand that Antichrist must 
be coming." Ep. xi. ad Eger. This opinion, though false 
for the reasons just now mentioned, yet was not totally devoid 
of foundation. For Rome, the principal head and ancient cen- 
tre of all dominion, was then no more, and the most notable 
part of the empire, namely, the western, was suppressed. What 
wonder then, that the time of Antichrist was supposed, from 
the expression of St. Paul, to be approaching? And in effect 
we soon after see the birth of a man, viz. Mahomet, who, 
though not himself Antichrist, yet laid the foundations of a 
great power, which we conceive will form hereafter the Anti- 
christian empire. The reason for this opinion will appear in 
the sequel. The ruin of ancient Rome was ultimately com- 
pleted by Totila, king of the Goths, in the year 546; and not 
long after Mahomet was born, viz. 571, and began his con- 
quests about the year 622. From that date the Mahometan 
power advanced with great rapidity and success, and grew 
to a prodigious height of dominion under the Saracens; 
as we have shown in the account of the fourth seal. Af- 
terwards, the chief part of that vast empire fell by conquest 
into the hands of the Turks, where it remains at this 
day. These warriors, actuated by an insatiate thirst of power, 
enlarged their conquests upon the eastern Roman empire, 
which at last they entirely subdued, and took the imperial 
city of Constantinople in 1453, where the conquering sultan, 
Mahomet II., fixed the seat of his own monarchy. Thus was 
taken out of the way or extinguished one part of that empire ; 
the existence of which withholds or hinders the coming of 
Antichrist. And in this manner did the Turkish power in- 
crease, and as we apprehend, will continue its progress, to 
pave the way to universal dominion under a ruler or empe- 
ror, who will in the end become Antichrist. 

The fourth seal, as we have seen, gave us the origin of the 
Mahometan monarchy, of which it was there said : " Power 
was given to him, (its rulers,) over the four parts of the 
earth," Apoc. vi. 8. In the Greek indeed we read, " over 
the fourth part of the earth." If the text of the vulgate be 
followed, it is clear that the Mahometan dominion will extend 
over the four parts of the earth ; and this will be further con- 
firmed hereafter. The accomplishment of this prophecy is 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 199 

advancing, but not yet adequately fulfilled. The Turks have 
already in their possession a considerable part of Asia, a great 
extent of country in Africa, and a spacious territory in Eu- 
rope. On the pouring out of the fourth vial, we saw the 
divine justice fall upon the schismatic Greeks by the hands 
of the Turks, who thereupon greatly enlarged their empire. 

The great empire of Turkey, thus enlarged, having pre- 
pared the way for the coming of this impious prince, we shall 
now look out for his birth and origin ; for which we must 
have recourse to the book of Daniel. This prophet in the 
seventh chapter tells us, he saw in a vision four beasts rise 
up out of the sea, which have been generally understood to 
represent four great empires that should succeed one another, 
namely, the Chaldean, Persian, Greek, and the Roman. 
The fourth beast, which denotes the ancient Roman empire, 
Daniel thus describes, ver. 7. " I beheld in the vision of the 
night, and lo ! a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and ex- 
ceedingly strong ; it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking 
in pieces, and treading down the rest with its feet : and it was 
unlike to the other beasts, which I had seen before it, and it 
had ten horns." An angel explains to the prophet the mean- 
ing of this mysterious terrible beast in the following manner, 
ver. 23. " The fourth beast will be the fourth kingdom upon 
earth, which shall be greater* than all the kingdoms, and 
shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and 
break it in pieces." Further, ver. 24. " And the ten horns 
of the same kingdom will be ten kings." This fourth king- 
dom, or Roman empire, was then to surpass in power and 
dominion all the preceding kingdoms. And effectually, it 
conquered the dominions of the three above-named empires, 
and even subdued the greatest part of the then known world. 
The ten horns of the beast are said by the angel to be ten 
kings, that is, ten proconsuls or governors placed by the em- 
perors over the ten provinces, into which the whole Roman 
state might be supposed to be divided. These proconsuls or 
governors might well be termed kings, as their power was 
very great, and the provinces under their command equal to 
large kingdoms. 

Daniel proceeds, ver. 8. " I considered the horns, and 
behold, another little horn sprung out of the midst of them : 
and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence 
thereof." Which the angel explains to him thus, ver. 24. 

* The Chaldaic text, in which language this prophecy was written, has, 
11 unlike to all kingdoms." 



200 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

" And another (king) shall rise up after them, and he shall 
be mightier than the former,* and he shall bring- down three 
kings.'* The little horn here, which the angel explains to be 
a king, will be that king who will become Antichrist. And 
such is the opinion of St. Jerom, and several other holy fathers 
and interpreters. This little horn, or this petty king, who at 
last will be Antichrist, must therefore spring out of the midst 
of the ten horns, or will be born and rise up from without the 
midst of the ten provinces that composed the ancient Roman 
empire, that is, will rise up in a country, out of the boundary 
of the Roman empire, but answering to the middle of it. This 
circumstance, joined with the other before mentioned, of his be- 
coming emperor of the Turks, serves to point out to us the place 
of his birth. Whoever will take the pains to view the map of 
the ancient Roman empire, will see that the country formerly 
called Taurica Chersonesus, now Crim Tartary, on the north 
side of Pont Euxin or Black sea, corresponds very nearly to 
the middle of that empire, while at the same time it lies without 
its limits. And this latter circumstance is necessary, as the 
little horn ought to be independent on the other ten horns, 
which could not be if it was placed within the sphere of their 
power. In the country then of Crim Tartary, we conceive 
the Antichristian prince will be born, heir to that petty king- 
dom, and will succeed to it as kan or king of Crim and little 
Tartary. On another hand, we learn from Prince Cantemir, 
in his history of the Ottoman empire, that the Mahometan 
family upon the throne of Crim Tartary is descended, by a 
younger branch, from the same stock as the Ottoman family 
that sits upon the throne of Constantinople, and the Turks have 
often declared that if the Ottoman family fail, that of Crim 
Tartary is to succeed to their empire. We suppose therefore 
that the present Ottoman race, which now sways the Turkish 
sceptre, will somehow or other be removed or extinguished ; 
upon which the Antichristian prince, king of Crim Tartary, 
will claim his right, and mount the imperial throne of Tur- 
key. This simple course of events shows therefore the com- 
pletion of Daniel's prophecy; a king of so small a country as 
Crim and little Tartary, may well be reputed the little horn 
that sprang out of the midst of the ten horns ; and this petty 
king's succeeding to the Turkish empire, explains how the 
little horn grew mightier than the other horns. 

Before we explain the rest of the above prophecy, it may 
not be amiss to add something more concerning the origin of 

* The Chaldaic, M and he shall be unlike to the former." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 201 

this famous future prince. It is the opinion of many of the 
ancients, that Antichrist will be a Jew, born of the tribe of 
Dan. They allege as a probable proof of it ; first, the pro- 
phecy of Jacob about his son Dan. Thus spoke that patri- 
arch : " Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel. 
Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that 
biteth the horse's heels, that his rider may fall backward." 
Gen. xlix. 16, 17. Upon which St. Augustine says: " When 
Jacob gave his last blessing to his sons* he spoke in such 
manner of Dan, as to give reason to think that Antichrist will 
be born of that tribe." Qu. 22. in Josue. But this prediction 
seems to have been accomplished in that extraordinary man, 
Sampson, who was born of the tribe of Dan, became judge of 
Israel, and was truly a snake in the way to the Philistines ; 
for he met them every where, and sorely tormented them. 
And in this sense St. Jerome explains it. In Qucest. Hebr. 

The second argument adduced in favour of the same 
opinion, is drawn from the seventh chapter of the Apocalypse, 
where, in the enumeration of the Jews who in each tribe 
were to be signed with the sign of the living God, the tribe 
of Dan is omitted, as if it was excluded from that favour on 
account of its giving birth to that most wicked of all men, 
Antichrist. But this argument does not seem to be suffi- 
ciently grounded. For, in the first place, St. John, before he be- 
N gins that enumeration, says, " that there were a hundred and 
forty-four thousand, or, twelve times twelve thousand, signed 
out of all the tribes of Israel," vii. 4. He therefore meant to 
enumerate all the twelve tribes. Secondly, in that enumera- 
tion we may observe there is mention made of the tribe of 
Joseph, and of Manasse, but no mention of that of Ephraim ; 
w r e must also observe that the tribe of Joseph comprehended 
both the tribes of Ephraim and Manasse, who were Joseph's 
two sons. Therefore either the tribe of Joseph w T ould have 
been solely mentioned, without that of Manasse ; or else the 
two separate tribes of Ephraim and Manasse would have been 
mentioned, without that of Joseph. It appears then that, as 
the text stands, the mention of the tribe of Manasse is super 
fluous, being included in that of Joseph. Indeed, a mistake 
seems to have crept into the text through inadvertency of the 
copier, who, instead of A AN in the Greek original, wrote 
MAN in his copy, as the Greek letters A and M are not so 
very different : and in subsequent copies MAN might be 
lengthened out into MANASSE, for which it was supposed 
to stand. Therefore it would seem, that Dan stood in the 



202 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

original text instead of Man or Manasse. Besides, upon the 
supposition even that Antichrist was to spring from the tribe 
of Dan, we do not see why the whole tribe should be accursed 
for that. We may then conclude, with respect to this article, 
that, as there appears nothing in holy writ to determine the 
origin of Antichrist, we may suppose he will be born of Ma- 
hometan parents, such being at present the prince and people 
of Crim Tartary. 

But to resume the prophecy of Daniel. " I considered the 
horns," says he, "and behold, another little horn sprung out 
of the midst of them : and three of the first horns were plucked 
up at the presence thereof," vii. 8. The last part, which 
alone remains to be considered, and three of the first horns 
were plucked up at the presence thereof, is thus explained to 
him by the angel: " and he shall bring down three kings," 
v. 24; that is, the Antichristian king, represented by the little 
horn, will subdue three kings or three kingdoms, which must 
be provinces of the ancient Roman empire ; because, as we 
observed, that empire is represented by the beast, and its pro- 
vinces are signified by the beast's horns. And thus by his 
reducing three kingdoms under his power, three horns of the 
beast will be plucked up by him. This Antichristian prince, 
at his accession to the imperial crown of Constantinople, will 
find the Turkish empire in actual possession of seven of trn 
ten provinces that made up the whole ancient Roman state 
These acquisitions, and that of most of the northern countries 
of Europe, will have been the work of his predecessors, as 
we have already remarked, and he will enter upon a do- 
minion of vast extent. But there will still remain three pro- 
vinces or kingdoms, unsubdued, within the compass of the 
old Roman empire. These are reserved for his own con- 
quest. 

It may now be asked, which may be supposed to be the 
three kingdoms here spoken of? To answer the question ; 
it appears pretty clear, that the present German empire must 
be one of the three, as it was formerly a Roman province, and 
is still the representative of the Roman empire ; and conse- 
quently, according to the above cited prophecy of St. Paul, it 
must be taken out of the way. The other two kingdoms we 
apprehend may be France and Spain : because they consti- 
tuted formerly two provinces of the Roman state, and seem to 
be almost the only considerable powers remaining, which 
will not have been before swallowed up in the Turkish do- 
minion. This however cannot be certainly ascertained ; as 



HISTORY Or THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 203 

perchance Italy may be one of these two kingdoms, unless on 
account of its being divided into a number of petty states, it 
may not be reputed to form a kingdom. Thus then by the 
reduction of the three kingdoms, he who held will be taken 
out of the way, conformably to the prophecy of St. Paul ; that 
is, the Roman empire will be wholly put down, and incorpo- 
rated in the dominion of the Antichristian emperor. But it 
must be observed, all these things happen while he is a suc- 
cessful conquering prince, before he declares himself Anti- 
christ ; as follows from the apostle's words, already cited : 
41 Only that he who now holdeth, do hold until he be taken 
out of the way ; and then that wicked one (Antichrist) shall 
be revealed." 

According to the above account, deduced from the predic- 
tions of Daniel and St. Paul, the Antichristian prince becomes 
master of all those spacious countries that constituted the an- 
cient Roman empire : and of course he may be truly styled 
Roman emperor. And that such he will one day be, may be 
further confirmed from the Apocalypse. We have seen, page 
98, in the explication of the 17th chapter of the Apocalypse, 
that the seven heads of the beast which represents the Roman 
empire, denote seven Roman emperors, of whom Antichrist 
himself is the seventh or last. The same will likewise appear 
hereafter in the exposition of chapter the 13th, which evi- 
dently relates to Antichrist. Such also we find to have been 
the general sentiment of the ancients. Thus speaks St. John 
Chrysostom : " As those empires, which preceded the Roman, 
were destroyed ; that of the Babylonians by that of the Per- 
sians, that of the Persians by that of the Macedonians, that of 
the Macedonians by that of the Romans ; so will likewise the 
empire of the Romans be destroyed by Antichrist." 2 Thess. 
Horn. 4. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says : u The devil will raise 
up a famous man, Antichrist, who will seize upon the do- 
minions of the Roman empire." Catech. 15. St. Irenseus, 
St. Jerome, and others, might be quoted for the same purpose. 

Constantinople, which has been the seat of the Turkish 
monarchs, ever since it fell under their dominion, will con- 
tinue to remain so under this Turkish Antichristian, and Ro- 
man emperor. That city, though very large at present, upon 
the vast accession of empire will probably increase to a great 
degree, in magnitude, grandeur and riches. As the ancient 
Romans could never sit down to enjoy their acquisitions in 
the sweets of peace, but were constantly stimulated by insa- 
tiate lust of power to add to their dominion ; in like manner 



204 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

this new Roman emperor, as if with the acquisition of their 
territory he inherited their restless ambition, will pursue his 
destructive view of aggrandizing his power and empire. The 
reduction of one country after another will whet his appetite 
for conquest, and each conquest will facilitate the way to fur- 
ther success. Having added Europe to his other dominions, 
he will have at command the naval power of all the great 
maritime states. His numerous fleets may therefore fly from 
one continent to another, from one island to another, and strike 
terror wherever they come. What wonder, then, if he en- 
larges his empire with fresh conquests in Africa, America, in 
the East and West Indies % 

In these times iniquity will abound. Universal will have 
been the propagation of infidelity, irreligion, and immorality, 
as we have before observed from the words of our Saviour 
and St. Paul. Defection from faith, disregard for its teachers, 
licentiousness in opinions, depravity in morals, will so far at 
last deaden the influence of religion, and cause such degene- 
racy in mankind, that many will be so base as even to espouse 
idolatry. This assertion may seem incredible to some at this 
day, and may be esteemed an absurdity; but we shall see 
idolatry expressly mentioned in the Apocalypse, as existing in 
the time of Antichrist. And indeed, I apprehend our surprise 
will much abate, if we take into consideration the temper and 
disposition of the present times. When men divest them- 
selves, as they seem to do at present, of all fear of the Supreme 
Being, of all respect for their Creator and Lord ; when they 
immerse themselves in the gratification of sensuality ; when 
they give full loose to the human passions, and direct their 
whole study to the pursuits of a corrupt world, with a total 
forgetfulness of a future state, may we not say that the tran- 
sition is easy to idolatry % When all the steps are taken that 
lead to a mark, what wonder if we arrive at it? Such was 
the gradual degeneracy of mankind in the early ages of the 
world, that brought on the abominable practices of idol wor- 
ship. I am aware it will be said, we have the happiness to 
live in the most enlightened of all ages, our knowledge is 
more perfect, our ideas are more improved and refined, the 
human faculties are now better cultivated than ever before, 
and, in fine, the present race of mankind may be reckoned a 
society of philosophers, when compared to preceding genera- 
tions : how then can such a stupidity seize the human mind, 
as to sink it into idolatry ? But I apprehend, this kind of 
reasoning is more specious than solid. For, allowing the 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 205 

present times to surpass the former in refinement and know- 
ledge, it must be said they are proportionably more vicious. 
Refinement of reason has contributed, as every one knows, to 
refine upon the means of gratifying the human passions. 
Besides, how much soever enlightened the mind may be sup- 
posed to be, if the heart is corrupted, what excesses the man 
will run into, daily experience teaches. If the philosopher is 
not governed by the power of religion, his conduct will be 
absurd, and even despicable to the most ignorant individual of 
the lowest rank. A Socrates, a Cicero, a Seneca, are said to 
have been acquainted with the knowledge of one supreme 
God; but they had not courage to profess his worship, and 
in their public conduct basely sacrificed to stocks and stones 
with the vulgar. When men have banished from their heart 
the sense of religion, and despise the ties of justice, (and is 
not this the case of numbers?) will many of them scruple to 
incense a statue, if doing so will serve their ambition, their 
interest, or whatever may be their favourite passion % Where 
is then the surprise, that infidelity and irreligion be succeeded 
by idolatry % That pride alone, when inflamed with a con- 
stant flow of prosperity, may raise a man to the extravagant 
presumption of claiming to himself divine honours, we have 
the example of Alexander, the celebrated Macedonian con- 
queror, and of several emperors of Babylon and ancient Rome. 
From suggestions of that same principle of pride, may it not 
happen, that the Turks in future time, elated by a long series 
of success, by a continued course of victories and conquest, 
may it not happen, I say, that they will ascribe all this good 
fortune to the imaginary protection of their great Mahomet, 
and thence set him up for a God % " By the vanity of men," 
says the Book of Wisdom, " idols came into the world," xiv. 
14. If it should so happen, in the vast bulk of people then 
under the yoke of that empire, how many individuals may 
yield to the same absurd impiety, some out of fear for what 
they may lose, others out of a view to gain what they covet % 

The unparalleled success, which will attend the arms of 
this domineering prince, the Antichristian hero, the greatness 
of his power, and the extent of his dominion, superior to every 
thing that has been seen before, will strike with amazement 
the whole world, and in particular the Jews, who have been 
ever expecting such a glorious conqueror. They will be 
dazzled by the appearances of such extraordinary prosperity, 
and will view this great monarch with minds suspended in 
doubt, whether he be not the Messiah they have so long waited 
18 



206 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

for. Such has been the misfortune of the Jews to be always 
inflexibly fixed in the opinion, that the Messiah is to be a 
prince of the highest temporal grandeur and power, and who 
will not only restore them to their ancient land and possessions, 
but also raise them to such a pitch of eminence as to domineer 
over the whole world. The Antichristian emperor, knowing 
this their carnal disposition, and by his unbounded ambition 
coveting to be acknowledged master, and revered by all classes 
of men, will craftily encourage the Jews in their delusive no- 
tions, and draw them into the snare. He will pretend to be 
the great personage promised to them by the prophets. He 
will pretend to be lineally descended from king David, who 
was foretold to be the parent of the Messiah. He will feign to 
be attached to the law of Moses, to be zealous in the observance 
of its rites, and will allege, for pre of of his sincerity, his 
having been circumcised ; which circumstance will be true, 
as circumcision has always been in use among the Maho- 
metans. 

Thus he will put on the mask of dissimulation ] " Antichrist 
will be," says St. Gregory the Great, " the chief of all hypo- 
crites. That seducer w T ill pretend to sanctity, that he may 
draw others into iniquity." In Job. lib. 25. c. 14. St. Am- 
brose, in Luc. 12. is of opinion, that he will allege the sacred 
scriptures to prove to the Jews that he is their Messiah and 
the Christ. " Before the end of the world," says St. Cyril of 
Jerusalem, " Satan will raise up a man, who will falsely as- 
sume the name of Christ, and by that means will seduce the 
Jews." Catech. 15. Masked under the title of their glorious 
Messiah, he will flatter them with promises of restoring them 
to their ancient inheritance, the possession of the whole coun- 
try of Judea, and in particular to their beloved city of Jeru- 
salem. He will promise to rebuild their temple, and reinstate 
the Mosaic religion in its primitive splendour. He will pre- 
tend to make them the most glorious people upon earth, and 
that the great expectations they have so long waited for shall 
now be fulfilled. To give greater weight to all his fictitious 
pretences, the arch-impostor will place himself at Jerusalem, 
where the Jews expect their Messiah will hold his residence. 
Thither he will invite them to resort, that they may receive 
the effect of his promises. Thus allured, they will repair 
thither in great number, and will acknowledge him for their 
king and Messiah. That such will be the illusion of the 
Jews, is the general opinion of the ancient fathers of the 
Church, and of the subsequent interpreters of holy writ. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 207 

They ground their sentiment on those words of our Saviour 
to the Jews : " I am come in the name of my Father, and you 
receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him 
you will receive," John v. 43. By this other who will come in 
his own name and be received by the Jews, the above writers 
understand Antichrist. 

But while the Antichristian impostor is carrying on this 
farce at Jerusalem, and the Jews moving from all parts of the 
globe to resort thither, it seems that some sudden accident 
will happen, that will alarm him, and oblige him to set out 
for the east to assemble an army. For, at the sounding of 
the sixth trumpet, we shall see an immense body of troops 
cross the Euphrates from the East. This may come to pass, 
if we suppose that the European nations combine altogether at 
this time to revolt, and to rescue themselves from his ty- 
rannical government. In which view they may join their 
forces, and make up a most formidable army. Upon this 
news reaching him at Jerusalem, he will drop all his pro- 
jects concerning the Jew r s, and without executing any of 
the promises made to them, he will set out in great wrath 
for the East, to raise a large body of forces, to chastise in 
the severest manner his rebellious subjects of Europe. In 
his absence, the Jews will continue to flock in great crowds 
to Jerusalem. But, instead of meeting with the Messiah 
they expected, they will soon find that their assembling to- 
gether was designed to serve other purposes of Divine Pro- 
vidence. 

For now the term was expiring, which the Almighty had 
fixed for the duration of the Jewish captivity ; now the time 
was come, which in the decrees of his mercy he had 
settled for recalling to himself that people who had been so 
long estranged from him. By a particular mark of bounty, 
they had been chosen in former ages by him as his peculiar 
people, and adopted preferably to any other nation. They 
shared his favours in great abundance, and in the most con- 
spicuous manner ; and though in their infidelities and gross 
deviations from their duty he used the rod of correction, 
yet he always retained the disposition of a merciful Father 
for them. " Many a time did he turn away his anger, and 
did not kindle all his wrath. And he remembered that they 
are flesh." Psalm Ixxvii. 38, 39. He had forewarned 
them and told them : " If you despise my laws and contemn 
my judgments, so as not to do those things which are ap- 
pointed by me, and to make void my covenant : I also will 



208 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 

quickly do these things to you : I will quickly visit you with 
poverty, &c. I will set my face against you, and you shall 
fall down before your enemies. And I will scatter you 
among the gentiles." But then the Almighty presently after 
adds : " And yet for all that, when they were in the land of 
their enemies, I did not cast them off altogether, neither did 
I so despise them, that they should be quite consumed, and I 
should make void my covenant with them. For I am the 
Lord their God." Levit. xxvi. 15* &c. 

He spoke again by his prophet Amos : " Behold, the eyes 
of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will 
destroy it from the face of the earth : but yet I will not 
utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord." Amos 
ix. 8. Unfaithful to their God, they frequently offended, he 
frequently punished them ; and as often as they returned and 
implored his forgiveness, as often he forgave and again che- 
rished them. When their ingratitude had grown to such a 
height, as totally to abandon their indulgent Father and 
their God, and by a base prostitution to transfer to stocks 
and stones the worship due to him, and even obstinately to 
persist in their idolatry, notwithstanding the constant re- 
proaches he made them : he in his just anger banished 
them from their native land, and delivered them over to 
their enemies. The ten tribes, which formed the kingdom 
of Israel, were carried away slaves into Assyria ; whence 
they afterwards dispersed themselves into other countries. 

The tribes of Juda and Benjamin, of which consisted the 
kingdom of Juda, were removed to Babylon by Nabucho- 
donosor, where they were subjected to a severe captivity for 
seventy years. These bounds of time God set to his justice, 
and then the affection of the Father returned. They re- 
pented of their iniquities ; he replaced them in their country, 
and renewed his blessings to them. Some of the Israelites 
returned also from Assyria, and uniting themselves to the 
Jews, formed one body with them. 

After a period of years, the term arrived, in which their 
fidelity was to be put to the strictest test. The principal of all 
the divine dispensations to man, the redemption of the world, 
w r as now to be performed. The great personage, the Son of 
God, who was to execute the work, had been announced to 
the Jews by their prophets, and was to be born of their 
race. A command from heaven had been given them, 
through the channel of the same prophets, to receive him as 
their promised Messiah, to acknowedge him for their new Le- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 209 

gislator, and to accept his doctrine and laws in lieu of those 
they had hitherto followed ; and that they might not mistake 
his person, their prophets had given them a full description 
of his character, of the time of his coming, of the tenor of 
his life, and his extraordinary miraculous works. But when 
he appeared, his character and garb not answering to the 
carnal notions they had formed to themselves of his supposed 
power and grandeur, they refused to receive him. They 
expected in their Messiah, a mighty conqueror, a potent 
monarch, who would raise them above all other nations, 
They would not understand that the blessings designed by 
the divine wisdom to adorn and signalize the Messiah, were of 
a far nobler, sublimer, and more lasting nature, than all 
that worldly pomp and imaginary dominion their hearts 
were set upon. As therefore these temporal views and ex- 
pectations they did not find in the humble and low condition 
in which Christ appeared, they rejected their God and 
Saviour, they despised his doctrine, they contemned and blas- 
phemed his miracles, they treated his sacred person with the 
utmost indignity, and even proceeded to such an unparalleled 
instance of impiety, as to put him to death. This enormous 
crime, the greatest they had been or could be guilty of, drew 
the whole torrent of divine wrath upon them. They had 
said : 4t His blood be upon us, and upon our children." Matt, 
xxvii. 25. And effectually their horrible imprecations fell 
upon their own heads and upon their children also. Within 
less than the space of forty years after, the Almighty sent 
upon them his scourge ; the Romans, who ravaged their 
country, destroyed their city and temple ; and after that an 
innumerable multitude of them had perished by famine, 
plague, and the sword, the remainder were expelled Judea, 
and scattered over the whole face of the earth, conformably to 
the prediction of our Saviour : u There shall be great dis- 
tress in the land, and wrath upon this people, (the Jews.) 
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword ; and shall be 
led away captives into all nations." Luke xxi. 23, 24. In 
this desolate condition, without any fixed abode or govern- 
ment, the contempt of mankind, they have remained for 1700 
years, and thus they still continue a dreadful and lasting mo- 
nument of the divine indignation. 

But it must be observed that, notwithstanding this most 

terrible, most severe, and most lasting of all the punishments 

the Almighty has inflicted upon the Jews, nevertheless he 

has not utterly exterminated them. Their race subsists, and 

18 # 



210 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

is very numerous. The calamities and oppression they have 
undergone, would probably have extinguished any other 
people, but they are still preserved by a special protection for 
a future great purpose. The manifold benefits the Saviour of 
mankind came to confer on the world, were first offered to the 
Jews, but being rejected, they were transferred to the Gentiles 
who took the place of that people in the favour of God. 
44 Therefore I say to you, (the Messiah told them,) that the 
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given 
to a nation yielding the fruits thereof." Matth. xxi. 43. In 
consequence of this divine determination, the light of faith 
and the happy tidings of salvation were carried to other na- 
tions, that lay buried in gross ignorance, and in the darkness 
of idolatry; they were taught the true knowledge of God, 
and of Christ their Saviour, which they embraced, and be- 
came the people of God by becoming Christians. But when 
the merciful dispensations of heaven to the Gentiles shall be 
completed, that is, when the gospel of Christ shall have been 
fully preached to mankind, and the number of converts to 
Christianity, designed by the Almighty, shall be filled up, 
and the end of the world approaching, then the last posterity 
of the Jewish people shall experience that bounty, which the 
Almighty has hitherto suspended for many ages, but in his 
mercy has kept in reserve for them; 

He will then take from them their heart of stone, and give 
them a heart of flesh : he will make them sensible of their past 
blindness and obstinacy, will open their eyes to acknowledge 
Christ their Messiah and Saviour, and in fine by making 
them Christians, will receive them anew into his favour. 
This doctrine we learn from St. Paul : " hath God cast away 
his people," (the Jews,) says he; " God forbid.-— For I would 
not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, lest you 
should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part 
hath happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
should come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is 
written : there shall come out of Sion, He that shall deliver, 
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob : and this is to 
them my covenant : when I shall take away their sins." 
Rom. xi. 25, 26, 27. This passage of St. Paul expresses so 
fully the future conversion of the Jews to Christianity, that on 
it, as chief basis, is built the sentiment of the fathers of the 
Church, who are so unanimous on that head, that it is need- 
less to quote any of them. 

The dispersion therefore of the Jews and their long captivi- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 211 

ty are to have a period, but a period determined by that event, 
the vocation of the Gentiles to the faith, which when fulfilled, 
the Jews are to be re-assembled from all the corners of the 
earthy will be converted to Christianity, and re-established in 
that same land they formerly inhabited, and which was given 
by the Almighty himself to their ancestors. This singular 
economy of God towards that people is also in part made 
known to us by our Saviour, in those his words : " They 
(the Jews) shall be led away captives into all nations ; and 
Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, till the times 
of the nations be fulfilled." Luke xxi. 24. But the whole is 
beautifully described by many of the ancient prophets. A 
few of those instances shall here be put dow r n. Thus pro- 
phesied Azarias, in the reign of Asa, king of Juda : " Many 
days shall pass in Israel, without the true God, and without a 
priest or teacher, and without the law. And when in their 
distress they shall return to the Lord, the God of Israel, and 
shall seek him, they shall find him." 2 Paralip. xv. 3, 4. 
Thus spoke the prophet Osee, about 800 years before Christ : 
11 The children of Israel shall sit many days without king, 
and without prince, and without sacrifice, without altar, and 
without Ephod, and without theraphim : and after this the 
children of Israel shall return, and shall seek the Lord their 
God, and David their king ; and they shall fear the Lord 
and his goodness, in the last days," c. 3. v. 4, 5. Here the 
prophet first describes the present forlorn state of the Jews, 
without either fixed settlement or government, temple or sa- 
crifice : then he informs us, that in the last days they will 
return to God and seek David their king, that is, the true 
Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is of the race of David and his 
successor in the kingdom of Juda. " And it shall come to 
pass in that day," says the prophet Isaiah, " that the Lord 
shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of 
his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from 
Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, 
and from Senaar, and from Emath, and from the Islands of the 
sea; and he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall 
assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the 
dispersed of Juda, from the four quarters of the earth," xi. 1 1. 
The prophet Jeremiah prophesies on the same subject, in the 
following strain: " Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, his 
fury going forth a violent storm, it shall rest upon the head of 
the wicked. The Lord will not turn away the wrath of his 
indignation, till he have executed and performed the thoughts 



212 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

of his heart. In the last days you shall understand these 
things. At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all 
the families of Israel, and they shall be my people," xxx. 23, 
24, and xxxi. 1. Here the anger of God is announced to fall 
upon the head of the wicked, that is, upon Antichrist and his 
society ; which the Jews will understand, or see executed in 
the last days. About that time the Lord will become the God 
of all the families or tribes of Israel, and they will become his 
people. In like manner, by the mouth of the prophet Eze* 
chiel, we hear the Almighty speaking thus to the Jews: " I 
will take you from among the Gentiles, and will gather you 
together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your 
own land. And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit 
within you : and I will take away the stony heart out of your 
flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And you shall dwell 
in the land which I gave to your fathers ; and you shall be my 
people, and I will be your God," xxxvi. 24, &c. We shall 
close these prophecies with a passage from Micheas : " It 
shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the 
house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of mountains, 
and high above the hills, and people shall flow to it. In 
that day, saith the Lord, I will gather up her that halteth ; 
and her that I had cast out I will gather up, and her whom I 
had afflicted. And I will make her that halted, a remnant; 
and her that had been afflicted, a mighty nation : and the Lord 
will reign over them in Mount §ion, from this time now and 
for ever," iv. 1, 6, 7. 

It being then the gracious design of the Almighty to receive 
again the Jews into his favour, by their conversion to Christ- 
ianity, at the period we are speaking of, when they are gather- 
ing together at Jerusalem ; it is now to be examined by what 
means that great work is to be effected, and who is to be the 
happv instrument of it. All antiquity and tradition tells us, 
that Elias is the person. And these vouchers are grounded 
on the express word of the scripture. Thus spoke God to the 
Jews by the mouth of his prophet Malachy: " Behold I will 
send you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great 
and dreadful day of the Lord : And he shall turn the heart of 
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to 
their fathers : lest I come and strike the earth with anathema," 
iv. 5, 6. Here the Almighty promises, that before the great 
and dreadful day of judgment, he will send the prophet Elias, 
who shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the 
heart of the children to the fathers, that is, he will convert the 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH; 213 

Jews, by convincing- therri that their Messiah is that very Jesus 
whom they have rejected, and by such conviction he will re* 
concile them to their fathers the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob : who believed in Christ to come, expected him, 
and desired to see his day, (John viii. 56,) while the Jews by 
the preaching of Elias will believe in him already come: and 
thus will ensure a mutual reconciliation ; the fathers and the 
children* who had been divided from the time of Christ's 
coming* will be re-united in the same faith and obedience to 
God. This work will be done lest I come, says the Lord, 
and strike the earth with anathema, or, with utter destruc- 
tion ; that is, lest the whole body of the Jewish people perish 
at the last day for want of faith in their Saviour ; and also 
lest there should be found at that time so few among men 
deserving mercy, on account of their infidelity and irreligion, 
as to oblige the Almighty to strike the earth with utter de- 
struction, or in other words, to condemn almost the whole bulk 
of mankind. 

The conversion therefore of the Jews to Christianity is to 
be the principal function of Elias. For this design he has 
been reserved by the wisdom and bounty of God, and not been 
suffered to die. While Eliseus was walking with him, he 
was taken away by the divine hand from the earth, and con- 
veyed to some place unknown to mankind. " As they (Elias 
and Eliseus) went on, walking and talking together, behold, 
a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and 
Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven." 4 Kings ii. 11. 
Elias therefore still exists in life, and will remain so, till he 
returns again upon earth, in full vigour, vested with that 
extraordinary commission from the Most High, to remove the 
veil of darkness that hangs before the eyes of the Jews, to 
show them their past error, and introduce them into the fold 
of Christ their God and Redeemer. 

That such will be the office committed to Elias, we also 
learn very clearly from the book of Ecclesiasticus, chap, 
xlviii. v. 4, 9, 10, where it is said: u Who can glory like to 
thee, Elias ? Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, 
in a chariot of fiery horses. Who art registered in the 
judgments of times, to appease the wrath of the Lord, to re- 
concile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the 
tribes of Jacob." Elias is here said by the inspired writer, 
to be registered in the judgments of times, that is, destined 
to be, at an appointed time, a kind of mediator, to appease 
the wrath of the Lord, irritated against the Jews for their in- 



214 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

fidelity ; to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, by 
bringing them to the faith and the holy sentiments of the 
patriarchs their ancestors, as we said above ; and in fine, he 
is destined to restore the tribes of Jacob to the favour of God, 
by teaching them to acknowledge his divine son Jesus for 
their Messiah. He will restore the tribes of Jacob, by re-en- 
grafting them on the true olive tree, from whence, according 
to the Apostle, they had been cut off for their infidelity. 
"Because of unbelief," says St. Paul, " they were broken 
off And if they abide not in unbelief, they shall be grafted 
in : for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou 
(Gentile) wert cut off the wild olive tree, which is natural to 
thee ; and contrary to nature, were grafted into the good olive 
tree; how much shall they, the Jews, that are the natural 
branches, be grafted in their own olive tree? For, 
blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fulness of 
the Gentiles should come in ; and so all Israel should be 
saved." Rom. xi. 20, 23, &c. The same account of Elias 
is confirmed by our Saviour, who told his disciples : " Elias 
indeed shall come, and shall restore all things." Matth. 
xvii. 11. But let us here observe, that the expression of the 
book of Ecclesiasticus, Elias will restore the tribes of Jacob, 
and that of our Saviour, Elias will restore all things, seem 
to indicate more than the conversion of the Jewish nation to 
the faith, as this conversion is sufficiently insinuated in the 
expression of Elias, appeasing the wrath of God, and recon- 
ciling the heart of the father to the son. It appears there- 
fore probable, that Elias will, by divine instruction, discover 
to the Jews the original distinction of their tribes, which 
they seem to have confounded and lost : then that he will 
restore the tribes to their primitive possessions, by re-esta- 
blishing them in their ancient land of Judaea, each tribe in 
his new respective partition, as marked out by Ezekiel, 
ch. 48. The execution of this work will not at all be im- 
possible to the prophet, as he will be endued with so ample 
a degree of authority from God, and so extraordinary a 
power of working miracles. This observation will be con- 
firmed in the sequel from the ancient prophets, who represent 
the Jews in full possession of the Holy Land after the time of 
Antichrist. 

But if the Almighty, through his special mercy to the 
Jews, appoints them a teacher in Elias, to bring them back 
into the true path, from which they have so long strayed, it 
is not to be imagined he leaves the rest of the world without 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 215 

the same kind of assistance. A teacher of extraordinary- 
power and virtue will be more wanted, as iniquity will 
abound in these times, and even the good will be exposed to 
dangerous and most severe trials. To answer this exigency, 
the all-bountiful God will send another agent, namely, 
Henoch. We learn from Moses that this patriarch by a par- 
ticular privilege was preserved from death: "Henoch 
walked with God, and was seen no more, because God took 
him." Gen. v. 24. We learn the same from St. Paul : 
" By faith Henoch was taken away that he should not see 
death ; and he was not found because God had taken him 
away." Rom. xi. 5. In the whole class of mankind Henoch 
and Elias are the only two persons to be found, that have not 

Eaid the debt of nature ; which is deferred, till they shall 
ave completed the functions to which they are destined, 
and which are not to take place till the latter days. They 
will then have, each, their separate commission. That of 
Elias will be, as we have seen, the conversion of the Jews, 
&c, or, to restore the tribes of Jacob; while Henoch will be 
sent to preach to the Gentiles, as we learn from the book of 
Ecclesiasticus : " Henoch pleased God, and was translated 
into Paradise, that he may give repentance to the nations," 
xliv. 16. The object therefore of Henoch's ministry is to 
give repentance to the nations, to withdraw idolaters from 
idolatry, to move bad Christians to repentance and bring 
them back into the ways of virtue, and in fine to stem the 
prevailing tide of iniquity. In the same manner then as 
St. Peter was appointed the apostle of the Jews, and St. 
Paul the apostle of nations, Gal. ii. 7, 8 ; so Elias will be 
sent, chiefly to the former, and Henoch to the latter; but 
as the preaching of each of the two apostles was not en- 
tirely confined to either body of people, but sometimes ex- 
tended to both ; so likewise Elias and Henoch will some- 
times mix their labours in favour of both Jews and nations. 
It is here further to be observed, that Henoch represents the 
ancient patriarchs and people who lived under the law of 
nature ; and Elias the Jewish prophets with that people, 
who were bound to the Mosaic institution : so that by their 
preaching the Christian religion we understand that both 
the patriarchs and the prophets, both the law of nature and 
the Mosaic, will appear again, if the expression be allowed, 
upon the stage of the world, to concur in giving testimony to 
Christ. 

The two messengers of God, Henoch and Elias, are the 



216 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

two witnesses, whose appearance and functions are described 
by St. John in the Apocalypse : " And I will give unto my two 
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred 
sixty days, clothed in sackcloth," xi. 3. God will give 
unto these, his two witnesses, the spirit of preaching and 
prophecy : by virtue of which they will preach and prophesy 
for a time, that is limited to a thousand two hundred and sixty 
days, that is forty-two months of thirty days each, or three 
years and a half. During this period of their ministry 
they will imitate the conduct observed by St. John Baptist 
on his preaching, by showing in themselves the examples of 
a penitential life, and practising the austerities of mortifi- 
cation, as appears by the expression, that they will be clothed 
in sackcloth. And such example, doubtless, will add great 
weight to their preaching. 

St. John continues to describe the two witnesses : " These are 
two olive trees, and the two candlesticks that stand before the 
Lord of the earth," xi. 4. Henoch and Eliasare compared to 
olive trees ; because, as olive trees yield the unctious sub- 
stance of oil, so these two powerful preachers will enrich 
mankind with the streams of the grace of God, aptly repre- 
sented by the richness of oil. They are also said to be the 
two candlesticks that stand before the Lor,d, or God, of the 
earth ; because as candlesticks are set up to diffuse light, so 
they will carry the light of faith to the nations of the 
earth. Here the apostle applies to them a passage in the 
prophecy of Zachary: " These are two sons of oil, who 
stand before the Lord of the whole earth." Zach. iv. 14. 

St. John proceeds : " And if any man will hurt them, (the 
two witnesses,) fire shall come out of their mouths, and shall 
devour their enemies : And if any man will hurt them, in this 
manner must he be slain." 

11 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the 
days of their prophecy : and they have power over waters to 
turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues 
as often as they will." Apoc. xi. 5, 6. Here are expressed the 
miraculous powers, with which the two witnesses, Henoch and 
Elias, will be vested. Such powers will be necessary, to 
enable them to prove their mission, and to give weight to their 
preaching. Every messenger, who appears with a new com- 
mission from God, is always furnished with unquestionable 
proofs of such his commission : and these proofs are no other 
than miraculous works. Thus did our Saviour, the Apostles, 
and first planters of Christianity, prove the divine authority of 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 217 

their mission, and the truth of their doctrine. Every new 
teacher, who comes destitute of such a sanction, can claim no 
credit, but will be deemed an impostor. 

Among the numerous miracles Henoch and Elias will per- 
form, here is particular mention of some. If any one offers to 
hurt them, to injure them, or attempt to seize them in order to 
put them to death, fire will come out of their mouths, or, they 
will command fire to come forth and devour those enemies. 
The same terrible punishment Elias, while on earth, inflicted 
upon the fifty men, whom king Ochozias sent to apprehend 
him. The captain of the fifty men, said to Elias : " Man of 
God, the king has commanded that thou come down. Elias 
answering, said to the captain of the fifty : If I be a man of 
God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and 
thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and con- 
sumed him and the fifty that were with him. 75 4 Kings i. 9, 
10. The second miracle of Henoch and Elias mentioned in 
our text is, that they will shut heaven, that it rain not in the 
days of their prophecy. At their command, no rain will fall 
during the three years and a half of their preaching : which 
drought will naturally produce a famine. This calamity they 
will probably be inspired to call for, in order to make man- 
kind sensible of the wrath of God that is armed against them, 
to induce them to enter into themselves, and withdraw from 
their evil ways. Elias had formerly worked the same won- 
der, as we learn from the third book of Kings, where he is 
introduced speaking to Achab, king of Israel, in the following 
manner : " Elias the Thesite said to Achab : As the Lord 
liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall 
not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words 
of my mouth" 3 Kings xvii. 1. This drought, announced 
by Elias, lasted three years and a half, as we learn from St. 
Luke's Gospel, c. 4. v. 25, and St. James' Epistle, c. 5. v. 17. 
The third miracle ascribed to the two wonder-workers is the 
turning waters into blood. This was also performed in Egypt 
by Moses. In fine, it is said they will have power to strike 
the earth with all plagues as often as they will. Here is then 
a general power put into their hands to inflict on mankind 
whatsoever calamities and disasters they may judge proper, 
either for their own defence, or to punish the enemies of God, 
or to bring men back to a sense of religion. Such surpri- 
sing wonders worked by the hands of Henoch and Elias will 
undoubtedly make impression upon mankind, and being en- 
forced by a vigorous preaching will bring many to repentance. 
19 



218 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

The preceding* observations show us, then, who are the two 
witnesses spoken of by St. John, and what will be at least, in 
part, the object of their mission. If a further confirmation be 
demanded, we have for vouchers all antiquity. We may 
begin with St. Justin, who says : " our Saviour himself teaches 
that Elias will come ; and we know that will happen towards 
the time that our Lord Jesus Christ is to come from heaven 
in his glory." Dial, cum Try ph. Tertullian speaks in the 
following manner : " Henoch and Elias have been taken 
away, nor do we find any account of their dying, because their 
death has been delayed: but they must however one day die, 
that by their blood Antichrist may be extinguished." De 
anima, c. 50. St. Hyppolitus martyr, says : " St. John Bap- 
tist was the precursor of the first coming of Jesus Christ, and 
Elias and Henoch will be the precursors of the second." Orat. 
de Antichristo. St. Ephrem comforts us by saying : " God 
in his mercy will send Henoch and Elias, who will exhort 
mankind not to believe in Antichrist." Serm. de Antichr. 
Lactantius seems to indicate Elias in the following words: 
u When the end of time will be approaching, God will send a 
great prophet, to recall mankind to the knowledge of their 
God, and who will have power of doing great wonders." 
Insiit. lib. 7. c. 17. St. Hilary, explaining the words of our 
Saviour, says: " Christ told his disciples that Elias would 
come and re-establish all things, that is, that Elias w r ould 
come to bring back all the Israelites that remain, to the 
knowledge of their God." Cap. 17. in Matt. St. Jerom tells 
that, " according to the prophecy of Malachy, Elias will 
appear before the second coming of our Saviour, and will an- 
nounce the approach of judgment." In Matth. xi. And in 
another place: u When the fulness of the Gentiles will be 
come in, all Israel shall be saved ; because then the prophet 
Elias will come, and will reconcile and turn the heart of the 
fathers to their children, and the heart of the children to the 
fathers, and the new people will be re-united to the ancient." 
In cap. 4 Zach. And in his letter to St. Marcella, he tells 
her that, " according to the Apocalypse, Henoch and Elias 
are to come again and then to die." We read in St. Am- 
brose that, " the beast which is Antichrist, will rise up from 
the abyss to fight against Elias and Henoch, who will have 
been sent again upon earth to give testimony to Jesus Christ, 
as we learn from the Apocalypse of St. John." In Psalm 45. 
St. Augustin informs us of the opinion of his times : " Nothing 
is more common," says he, " in the discourse of the faithful* 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 219 

than that the Jews will be converted to the faith of Christ by 
the great prophet Elias : for it is with reason believed, that he 
is yet living, and is expected to appear before the coming of 
our Saviour to judgment." De civ. Dei, lib. 20. c. 19. And 
again : " It is believed that Henoch and Elias will return to 
pay the common debt of nature, that, though their death has 
been deferred, they will nevertheless die." Ad. cap. 6 Gen. 
St. John Chrysostom tells us : " The prophets announce two 
comings of Christ, and say that Elias will be the forerunner 
of the second." hi Matth. horn. 58. St. Prosper writes as 
follows: " As God sent against Pharaoh two witnesses, 
Moses and Aaron ; and against Nero two witnesses, St. Peter 
and St. Paul, so likewise he will send against Antichrist two 
witnesses, Henoch and Elias." Dimid. Temp. c. 13. In 
fine, St. Gregory the Great speaks thus on the same subject : 
" Those two eminent preachers, Henoch and Elias have been 
taken away, and their death delayed, that they may return to 
preach in the last days. It is of them that St. John says in 
the Apocalypse : These are the two olive trees, and the two 
candlesticks that stand before the Lord of the earth : of whom 
Christ has promised one in the gospel, saying : Elias will 
come and will restore all things : They are two stars that are 
covered, and do not appear at present, but will appear here* 
after for the advantage of the world, and great numbers of 
Jewish people will be converted to the Faith." hi Job. lib. 9. 
c. 3. Thus do the ancient fathers agree in asserting the re- 
turn of Henoch and Elias, and in explaining the functions of 
their ministry. The same has been the general language of 
ecclesiastical writers, in all succeeding ages. 

Hence, then, appears the absurd presumption of those, who, 
from their enmity to the Catholic communion, have asserted 
the two witnesses to be, not two single persons, but the whole 
succession of heretics, who in different ages have revolted 
from the Mother-Church, and abused her doctrine. 

These two messengers of God, these two candlesticks that 
stand before the Lord of the earth, will therefore be two great 
lights that will shine in the Church of Christ in the last age. 
Vested with the divine commission, they will enter upon their 
ministry with extraordinary vigour and zeal. Henoch will 
proceed forth to preach penance to different nations ; while 
Elias will chiefly employ his labours at Jerusalem and in 
Judaea for the conversion of the Jews, which he will success- 
fully effect by the energy of his preaching, by the power of 
his miracles, and the abundance of divine graces which will 



220 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

then flow in upon that people. They, recovering themselves 
as from a profound sleep, and opening their eyes to the bright 
light which Elias will expose to them, they will see their past 
blindness, will be confounded at their past errors, and will be 
deeply touched at their long ingratitude to their God. They 
will then recollect, in bitterness of heart, what the Almighty 
had formerly urged to them, pre-admonishing them of their 
late unhappy state. " Behold, the hand of the Lord is not 
shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy, that it 
cannot hear. But your iniquities have divided between you 
and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that 
he should not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, 
and your fingers with iniquity." Isai. lix. 1, 2, 3. They will 
acknowledge the justice of this reproach, making the follow- 
ing humble reply: "Therefore has judgment been far from 
us. — We looked for light, and behold darkness : brightness, 
and we have walked in the dark. We have groped for the 
wall, and like the blind, we have groped as if we had no 
eyes : we have stumbled at noon-day, as in darkness." Ibid. 
v. 9, 10. From the full and clear instructions of Elias, they 
will evidently see that all the different characters, ascribed by 
the prophets to the Messiah, are found in Jesus Christ; they 
will acknowledge his miracles ; and in deep anguish will 
bewail the obstinacy of their forefathers, who shut their eyes 
to such evidence, and with unparalleled impiety put to death 
the author of life, and in consequence entailed upon their pos- 
terity such long and severe judgments. In viewing that 
horrible crime, committed against the sacred person of Christ, 
they will break out into sorrowful lamentations and tears of 
compunction. " I will pour out upon the house of David, 
(says God,) and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit 
of grace and of prayers: and they shall look upon me, whom 
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one 
mourneth for an only son : and they shall grieve over him, 
as the manner is to grieve for the death of the first-born. In 
that day there shall be a great lamentation in Jerusalem." 
Zach. xii. 10, 14. In fine, the Jews, now totally convinced of 
the whole truth of Christianity, will unite in offering up their 
adoration to Jesus Christ, and with a full heart confess him to 
be the eternal Son of God, the seed of Abraham, the race of 
David, the king of Israel, the desired of all nations, the pro- 
mised Messian and Saviour of the world. 

Thus that new-modelled people, after passing through the 
successive steps of surprise, confusion, and repentance, will at 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 221 

last rise up to a state of gladness and exultation, at the view 
of their present happiness. In a tide of joy they will send up 
their praises to heaven, and will sing a canticle of thanks- 
giving, which the Almighty himself has composed for them, 
purposely as it would seem for this occasion, and has delivered 
by the pen of his prophet Isaiah. 

Chap. 12. v. 1. " I will give thanks to thee, O Lord: for 
thou wast angry with me : thy wrath is turned away, and 
thou hast comforted me. 

V. 2. " Behold God is my Saviour, I will deal confidently, 
and will not fear ; because the Lord is my strength, and my 
praise, and he is become my salvation. 

V. 4. " Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make 
his intentions known among the people — remember that his 
name is high. 

V. 5. " Sing ye to the Lord, for he has done great things — 
show this forth in all the earth. 

V. 6. " Rejoice and praise, O thou habitation of Sion : for 
great is He that is in the midst of thee, the holy One of Is- 
rael.' 7 

To which thanksgiving they will probably join this other: 

" Lord, thou hast blessed thy land : thou hast turned away 
the captivity of Jacob. 

" Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people : thou hast 
covered all their sins. 

" Thou hast mitigated all thy anger : thou hast turned 
away from the wrath of thy indignation." Psalm 84. 

The great prophet and apostle, Elias, having thus com- 
pleted that remarkable work so long before foretold, of break- 
ing down the wall of separation that stood between the Christ- 
ian and Jewish people, and uniting them in one society; of 
" converting the heart of the fathers to the children, and the 
heart of the children to their fathers, of restoring the tribes of 
Jacob" to the favour of their God, and so saving all Israel ; 
the happy event will be carried upon the wings of the Avind 
over all Christendom, and the voice of exultation and praises 
of the Almighty will resound in every quarter of the Church. 

And now Elias, having fulfilled this part of his ministry, 
will be at leisure to convert his attention and labours to other 
nations. Nor can we sufficiently admire the divine mercy, 
in sending such powerful preachers as Henoch and Elias, to 
reform mankind at a time that they will have become so uni- 
versally corrupt, and that even idolatry will have made its 
appearance again upon the earth. They will admonish 
19* 



222 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 

mankind of the approaching end of the world, will reprove 
them for their profligate morals and infidelity. " The axe is 
now laid to the root," will they say : " every tree, therefore, 
that doth not yield good fruit, will be cut down and cast into 
the fire." Matth. iii. 10. They will explain the prophecies, 
showing what part of them has been accomplished, and what 
remains to be fulfilled ; and they themselves will prophesy. 
Apoc. xi. 3. They will give notice of the then near approach 
of Antichrist, of his satanic efforts to make the world aposta- 
tize from God, and of the dreadful persecution he will exer- 
cise against the whole body of Christians. They will exhort 
the people, with all the energy of eloquence, and with a full 
exertion of their miraculous powers, to return from their ini- 
quities, to do penance, to embrace the mercy of God, which 
soon will be no more in their power, and to guard against the 
terrible disasters that are ready to fall. In order to give 
more extent to their labours, they will stir up the zeal of the 
pastors and priests, and will send them forth with the com- 
mission to renew the face of the earth. The Church will 
therefore, at this time, exert itself on all sides with extraordi- 
nary fervour. Its ministers, endued with the apostolic spirit, 
will, in imitation of the apostles, spread themselves every 
where, even to the remotest countries, and will make the 
gospel again resound in all parts of the earth. M This gospel 
of the kingdom (says Christ) shall be preached in the whole 
world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the con- 
summation come." Matth. xxii. 14. 

This general preaching of the Christian doctrine in the 
sixth or last age of the world, we also find sublimely set 
forth, with other particulars, by our apostle and prophet, in 
the tenth chapter of the Apocalypse. 

V. 1. " I saw," says he, "another mighty angel come down 
from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow on his head, 
and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." 
The appearance of this mighty angel is very remarkable. 
The different parts of his attire are formed to bear a relation to 
the events he comes to announce. He is clothed with a cloud 
to indicate that a cloud of persecution is soon to overspread 
the Church. He is crowned with a rainbow, as a symbol of 
the alliance Christ has made with his Church : first, to ex- 
tend her kingdom over the whole earth ; " this Gospel of the 
kingdom," said he, " shall be preached in the whole world." 
Matt. xxiv. 14 : secondly, to guide her in all difficulties, " be- 
hold I am with you to the end of the world." Matt. xxviiL 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 223 

20 : thirdly, to protect her against whatever attacks may- 
he made upon her, " the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against her." Matt. xvi. 18. Such is the similitude between 
this rainbow and that which Almighty God established after 
the deluge for the sign of his alliance or engagement with 
mankind, never more to destroy the earth by water. The 
angel's face was as the sun ; a lively image of the brightness 
with which the Church will shine in coming forth victorious 
from the great persecution of Antichrist ; a brightness, arising 
from her invincible faith and the number of her glorious mar- 
tyrs ; a brightness, that will receive an additional lustre from 
the extraordinary zeal and sanctity produced in the Christians 
by the persecution. Lastly, the angel's feet were as pillars of 
fire ; the feet being the extremity of the body, here is signified 
the ending of the world by fire. 

V. 2. " And he (the angel) had in his hand a little book 
open." The little book in the angel's hand represents the 
book of the Gospel, which is not voluminous; and it is open, 
as ready to be divulged and preached over the whole world. — 
Thus in the shape and equipment of the angel we read an 
epitome of what will principally concern the Christian Church 
from that moment, in which the angel is supposed to appear, 
to the end of time. 

V. 2. " And he (the angel) set his right foot upon the sea, 
and his left foot upon the earth. 

V. 3. " And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion 
roareth." The angel stands with one foot upon the land and 
the other upon the sea, to show that what he is going to an- 
nounce, relates to the whole earth. And he cries with a 
loud voice, as when a lion roareth, to make himself heard 
over the whole globe. 

V. 3. M And when he (the angel) had cried, seven thun- 
ders had uttered their voices. 

V. 4. " And when the seven thunders had uttered their 
voices, I was about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven 
saying to me : Seal up the things, which the seven thunders 
have spoken, and write them not." Here St. John is permitted 
to write, but ordered to seal up the things which the seven 
thunders had spoken ; which circumstance seems to insinuate, 
that the things spoken by the seven thunders were seven par- 
ticulars of Antichrist's persecution ; as the word thunder is 
generally used in the Apocalypse to denote some disaster ; 
and these seven particulars being most dreadful and severe, 
the Almighty chose to have them sealed up or kept concealed, 



224 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

lest the foreknowledge of them should too much terrify and 
damp the human mind. 

V. 5. " And the angel, whom I saw standing upon the 
sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, 

V. 6. " And he swore by him that liveth for ever and ever, 
who created heaven, and the things which are therein : and 
the earth, and the things which are in it : and the sea, and the 
things which are therein : that there should be time no longer: 

V. 7. " But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, 
when he shall begin to sound the trumpet, the mystery of 
God should be finished, as he has declared by his servants 
the prophets." 

Here the angel announces in the most solemn manner the 
end of the world, swearing by the eternal God, Creator of 
heaven and earth, that time shall soon be no more : and that 
at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God 
shall be finished or consummated, that is, that the whole sys- 
tem of divine dispensations, w T hich the Almighty had in view 
in creating the world, shall then be totally fulfilled, and all 
that he had revealed to or declared by his prophets, relative to 
his providential economy towards mankind, shall then be en- 
tirely accomplished : upon which a period will be put to the 
world. The earth then will be burned, as signified by the 
angel standing upon it with feet which were as pillars of fire. 

We may here observe that St. John says, in the days, and 
not in the day, of the voice of the seventh angel sounding the 
trumpet ; which expression seems to indicate two soundings 
of the trumpet, with some interval between them : the first 
sounding being destined to put an end to time, and to the 
breath of all then living ; and the second, to call up the dead 
to judgment. 

V. 8. " And I heard a voice from heaven again speaking to 
me, and saying : Go, and take the book that is open, from the 
hand of the angel, who standeth upon the sea and the earth." 

St. John is here ordered, by a voice from heaven, to go and 
take the book ; the little book according to the Greek text ; 
the same book as mentioned above, ver. 2, in the angel's hand. 
The little book is the gospel, as we have said ; and St. John 
himself here represents the ministers of the Church, who will 
be stirred up and stimulated by the voice of Henoch and 
Elias, and of the Church itself, to take the little book, cr the 
gospel, in hand, and to undertake the preaching of it, which 
will be so particularly wanted in this depraved and dangerous 
time. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 225 

V. 9. " And I went to the angel, saying unto him that he 
should give me the book. And he said to me, take the book, 
and eat it up : and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy 
mouth, it shall be sweet as honey." St. John goes and asks 
of the angel the little book : that is, a numerous clergy of all 
degrees animated by the above voice, and inspired with a new 
zeal and an apostolic spirit, ask a commission from the 
Church, to go and preach the gospel to all the nations of the 
earth. This commission is given them, as the book was 
given to St. John: and they are enjoined "to go into the 
whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 
xvi. 15. And as St. John is told to eat up the book, these 
new preachers are exhorted to proceed to announce the word 
of God with the same ardour and eagerness with which 
the hungry man flies to his food. St. John is further told by 
the angel, that the book will be sweet as honey in his mouth, 
but will make his belly bitter ; both which the apostle expe- 
rienced, v. 10. " And I took the book," says he, " from the 
hand of the angel, and eat it up : and it was in my mouth 
sweet as honey, and when I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." 
The new troop of apostolic men, in setting out on their mis- 
sion, feel an inexpressible satisfaction in undertaking a work, 
so much to the glory of God, and to which are promised such 
high rewards. In this sense is the gospel as honey in their 
mouths. But afterwards, when swallowed, it makes their 
belly bitter, or causes them pains in the bowels ; a figurative 
expression of the persecutions and severities the preachers 
were to suffer in consequence of their ministry. Thus then it 
appears, their fate will be alike to that which our Saviour 
destined for his apostles and foretold them : " They shall de- 
liver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death :" This 
will be done in the great persecution of Antichrist, the cloud 
which clothed the angel. 

V. 11. " And he," the angel, "said to me, (St. John,) thou 
must prophesy again to many nations, and peoples, and 
tongues, and kings."* Here then the above-mentioned minis- 
ters of the gospel, represented by the person of St. John, after 
having received their commission, are told to enter upon their 
work of preaching : " Thou must prophesy again to many 
nations," &c. Let us however observe, that the expression of 
prophecying implies preaching accompanied with the gift of 
prophecy, and of interpreting prophecies. We must observe 

* In the Greek, " Thcu must prophesy before nations, and peoples, and 
many tongues, and many kings." 



226 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

also, that St. John is told, he must prophesy again ; the mean- 
ing of which is, that as St. John himself, with the other apos- 
tles and preachers, had carried the gospel through the world 
in the first age of Christianity, in the same manner the minis- 
ters of Christ must announce it again in the last age. In this 
general preaching, St. John's gospel and his other writings 
will he chiefly made use of. 

In this manner will the Almighty display the riches of his 
mercy for the conversion of mankind, by sending them zealous 
preachers endued with miraculous powers, and by such an 
abundant effusion of his graces, as will be proportioned to 
conquer the influence of the then prevailing wickedness; 
though the greater part of men will remain hardened in their 
iniquity. And now the holy w r ork will be in some measure 
advanced, and a select number of people will be prepared for 
the afflictions and calamities that the Almighty is upon the 
point of permitting, in his anger, to break out and burst upon 
mankind. " Behold there come yet two woes more hereaf- 
ter." Apoc. ix. 12. Of these two remaining woes, the first 
follows on the sounding of the sixth trumpet : and the second 
or last belongs to the seventh trumpet, the sounding of which 
will put an end to the world. We shall now see of what 
kind is the wo, announced by the sixth trumpet. 

The sounding of the Sixth Trumpet. 

Apoc. chap. ix. 13, " And the sixth angel sounded the 
trumpet: and I heard," says St. John, "a voice from the 
four horns of the golden altar, which is before the eyes of 
God. 

V. 14. " Saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet; 
loose the four angels, who are bound in the great river Eu- 
phrates. 

V. 15. "And the four angels were loosed, who were pre- 
pared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year ; for to 
kill the third part of men. 

V. 16. " And the number of the army of horsemen was 
twenty thousand times ten thousand. — And I heard the num- 
ber of them. 

V. 17. " And thus I saw the horses in the vision: and 
they that sat on them, had breast plates of Are, and of hya- 
cinth, and of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were as 
the heads of lions : and from their mouths proceeded fire, and 
smoke, and brimstone. 

V. 18. "And by these three plagues was slain the third 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 227 

part of men, by the fire and by the smoke, and by the brim* 
stone, which issued out of their mouths. 

V. 19. " For the power of the horses is in their mouths 
and in their tails. For their tails are like to serpents, and 
have heads : and with them they hurt. 

V. 20. " And the rest of the men, who were not slain by 
these plagues, did not do penance for the works of their hands, 
that they should not adoredevils and idols of gold and silver, 
and brass and stone, and wood, which neither can see, nor 
hear, nor walk. 

V. 21. " Neither did they penance from their murders, nor 
from their sorceries, nor from their fornication, nor from their 
thefts." 

As the object of the sixth vial is closely connected w T ith that 
of the sixth trumpet, w r e shall here immediately subjoin the 
pouring of that vial. 

The pouring out of the sixth vial of the wrath of God. 

Apoc. chap. vi. 12. " And the sixth angel," says St. John, 
" poured out his vial upon that great river Euphrates : and 
dried up the water thereof, that a way might be prepared for 
the kings from the rising of the sun." 

To return to the first text. The sixth trumpet sounds, and 
St. John hears a voice, according to the Greek text " one voice, 
from the four horns of the golden altar" of incense, that is, 
one voice composed of four voices issuing from the four horns, 
that adorned the corners of the altar, in resemblance to the 
altar of incense in the temple of Jerusalem. The four horns 
or corners of the altai denote the four, that is, all the quarters 
of the globe ; and the four voices that come from thence re- 
present the voices of the guardian angels* of all the kingdoms 
of the earth. These angels finding themselves frustrated in 
their continued labour to reform the people committed to their 
patronage, at last leave them as incorrigible, in the same 
manner as was done by the tutelar angels of Babylon and the 
provinces of its empire : " we would have cured Babylon " 
said they, " but she is not healed : let us forsake her." Jerem. 
li. 9. The angels therefore in the present case flying from 
their respective countries, and confessing the justice of the 

* It is sufficiently intimated in Scripture, that empires and nations have 
their tutelar angels. St. Michael is said to be the prince of the Jewish 
people. Dan. x. 2t. The Christian Church has likewise chosen the same 
archangel for her patron. Daniel mentions the prince of Persia, which is 
understood to be its guardian angel. Most of the ancient fathers have in 
the same manner ascribed the care of kingdoms to angels. 



228 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

punishments now to be executed, join in one voice to tell the 
angel who had sounded the trumpet, to loose the four angels 
who were bound in the great river Euphrates. These four 
angels, who are tied fast on the river Euphrates, are four evil 
spirits, representing four barbarous great kingdoms or powers, 
which they stir up to war. And these powers chiefly lie on 
the eastern side of the Euphrates with respect to Europe, or 
with respect to St. John, who was at the time of this revela- 
tion in the isle of Patmos, in the Archipelago. They are said 
to be bound in the river Euphrates, because the Almighty had 
hitherto restrained them, and withheld them from rising up 
and crossing the Euphrates, to bring mischief to mankind, till 
the time he had fixed for executing his judgments was come. 
Then he lets them loose. 

11 And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for an 
hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to kill the third 
part of men," v. 15. Here we see the cruel and bloody dispo- 
sition of these four nations, as being ready to kill the third part 
of men. They are said to be ready at an hour, a day, a month, 
and a year, to destroy mankind; because, of these four nations, 
one will inhabit the banks of the Euphrates, and consequently 
will be ready, as may be said, at an hour's warning, to cross 
that river. A second nation, lying at some distance, will require 
a day, that is, a longer time to prepare and march to the Eu- 
phrates. A third more distant nation, and a fourth the most 
distant of all, will respectively require still a longer space of 
time, expressed by a month, and a year, to reach the Eu- 
phrates, cross it, and meet in the field, in order to enter upon 
the execution of their murderous designs. 

This explication is confirmed by what is exhibited under the 
sixth vial. " And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon 
that great river Euphrates ; and dried up the water thereof, 
that a way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of 
the sun." As at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, the four an- 
gels or powers, who had been tied upon the river Euphrates, 
are loosed ; so the sixth vial is poured out upon the Euphrates; 
and that river is immediately dried up, or the passage is made 
easy to the kings who come from the east. Both the trumpet 
and the vial conspire to announce four great powers or kings, 
coming from the eastern countries of Asia, with their hands 
ready for destruction. And these are the agents employed by 
the avenging hand of God to punish mankind for their wick- 
edness, which will have grown to be excessive at this time. 
It may here be asked, which are the powers here spoken of? 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 229 

If we maybe allowed to conjecture from the present situation 
of empires in Asia, which however may alter, the four great 
powers in question may be, the Turks, whose dominions ex- 
tend over the Euphrates and beyond the Tigris, the Persians, 
the Moguls, and the Chinese with the Chinese Tartars. 

The time of loosing the four angels that were tied upon the 
Euphrates, seems to indicate the moment in which Satan 
himself is loosed from the abyss or hell, where we saw, p. G8, 
he was chained up for a thousand years. " And when the 
thousand years shall be finished, 5 ' says St. John, " Satan shall 
be loosed out of his prison, and he shall go forth, and seduce 
the nations, which are over the four quarters of the earth." 
Apoc. xx. 7. The prince of hell is therefore, by the permis- 
sion of God, at this time let loose with his hellish crew, and 
is allow r ed to employ his art and power in seducing mankind 
to idolatry, impiety, war, and mischief. And here we date the 
revival of idolatry. But we have this comfort, that his time 
will be short : " He must be loosed a little time." Apoc. xx. 3. 
Whoever considers the circumstance of Satan being loosed, 
needs not wonder if strange and extraordinary events fol- 
low. The first age of Christianity exhibited to us a dismal 
scene of his power and action. On one hand he deceived 
mankind by his oracles and other delusive arts ; while a num- 
ber of individuals groaned under the weight of his malevo- 
lence, from their being possessed by devils, as we read in the 
gospels and other books of the New Testament. On another 
hand we saw with what efforts he opposed the birth and 
growth of the Christian religion; with what fury and malice 
he instigated the whole Roman empire against it ; what per- 
secutions he suscitated ; what torments and horrible cruelties 
he suggested to be employed against the Christians, and what 
an ocean of their blood he procured to be spilled. If such, then, 
was the power of Satan at that time, and if so much he could 
do by means of his infernal agents, and by his instruments, 
the emperors, Nero, Domitian, Dioclesian, &c. why shall we 
be surprised to see his last efforts still stronger in the time of 
Antichrist, " whose coming," as St. Paul says, " is according 
to the working of Satan ?" 2 Thess. ii. 9. The Antichristian 
period is described by the ancient fathers as the most dreadful 
of all, and the Apocalypse plainly shows it to be so, as we 
shall see. 

Four of Satan's associates are the four bad angels we saw 
bound fast upon the river Euphrates, but now are united and 
permitted to go and raise up the four above-mentioned barba- 
20 



230 HISTORY Of THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

rous nations, which they will instigate to carry destruction 
and devastation through the world. 

These nations therefore arrive at different times at the Eu- 
phrates, which they cross without obstruction, and assemble in 
the plains on this side that river. The Antichristian prince, 
who had summoned them to his standard, as before related, 
assumes the command, and glories in being master of such a 
prodigious army. " And the number of the aruy of horse- 
men," says St. John, " was twenty thousand times ten thou- 
sand. And I heard the number of them," v. 16. See text of 
the sixth Trumpet. 

This army is here described as wholly consisting of caval- 
ry: I suppose for despatch; and the eastern people have 
always used much cavalry. But the number is excessive, 
such as has never been heard of in any instance before. We 
read in history of Xerxes, the Persian king, invading Greece 
with an army of one million of men. But an army of two 
hundred millions, or twenty thousand times ten thousand, is 
altogether impossible ; as it is doubtful whether there be that 
number of men, capable of bearing arms, upon the whole 
globe of the earth ; whereas this body of men is chiefly col- 
lected from the Asiatic countries that lie on the eastern side of 
the Euphrates ; and yet St. John assures us he heard their 
number named. " And I heard the number of them." Such 
an immense multitude cannot therefore be accounted for, but 
by supposing a great part of it to consist of the infernal beings. 
And that it is so, we have reason to conclude : first, from Sa- 
tan's having been let loose, as we have just now seen, and pro- 
bably with him a numerous crew of his associates : secondly, 
from the fourth seal, which relates, as we observed, to the 
Antichristian prince, and thus describes him : " Behold a pale 
horse, and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and hell 
followed him." Apoc. vi. 8. Here it is expressly said, that 
hell follows him. Thirdly, the same we shall see, by and by, 
confirmed by the prophet Joel. 

Such is the immense horrid army of the Antichristian mo- 
narch, composed of men and devils in human shape. With this 
he moves westwards, and is met in the neighbourhood of Je- 
rusalem by those powers, which we mentioned had rebelled 
against him, and which have advanced in a body to dispute their 
liberty with him. Dispositions being made, both armies come 
to an engagement. The appearance of the monarch's troops 
on this occasion, and the arms they fight with, are described in 
a very peculiar manner by St. John in the above-given text of 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 231 

the sixth trumpet, ver. 17. " And thus I saw the horses in 
the vision ; and they that sat on them had breast-plates of 
fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the 
horses were as the heads of lions; and from their mouths 
proceeded fire, and smoke, and brimstone." The horsemen 
appeared to St. John with breast-plates of fire and of hyacinth 
and of brimstone. By this expression is indicated the firing 
of carabines or such fire-arms as cavalry use; which are ap- 
plied to the breast when shot off He saw the firing of these 
guns, in the manner that it is done now a-days, but not being 
acquainted with such operations, as gunpowder was unknown 
in his time, he took the fire, that issued out of the muskets, to 
come from the horsemen's breasts, on which the muskets 
rested, and so thought the horsemen had breast-plates of fire. 
The prophet, here, even describes to us the composition of 
gunpowder, with its three several ingredients, viz. brimstone 
or sulphur, fire, or charcoal, the properest matter of fire; and 
hyacinth or saltpetre. Hyacinth, a precious stone of a purple 
colour, is here made use of to represent saltpetre, because 
saltpetre, when set on fire, emits a flame of a fine purple co- 
lour, similar to the colour of the hyacinth stone. Here then 
we see revealed to St. John both the composition and use of 
gunpowder, to which he and all mankind at that time were 
strangers. 

Then it is said : " and the heads of the horses were as the 
heads of lions, and from their mouths proceeded fire, and 
smoke, and brimstone." Before, we saw the description of 
the muskets and their fire ; here is pointed out the artillery 
of the army, or cannon. But, as St. John had not naturally 
any notion of such things, which did not exist in his time ; and. 
as he saw, in this vision, the whole army drawn up at a dis- 
tance, and the artillery placed upon a line with the cavalry, 
he seemed to confound the cannon with the horses, and the 
cannon's mouths with the mouths of the horses, as the height 
of both from the ground is nearly the same.* When there- 
fore he says, the heads of the horses were as the heads of 
lions, it is the same as if he said, the mouths of the cannon 
were, as to the noise they made, like the mouths of roaring 
lions ; and from their mouths proceeded fire, and smoke, and 
brimstone, that is, the fire of gunpowder. Hence it appears, 
that St. John, in his vision, both saw the fire of the cannon, 
and heard the explosion. One may further remark, that he 
points out here a nice difference between musket gunpowder 

* He describes the appearances, as he saw in the vision, not the reality. 



232 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

and that used in cannon. The first he describes as composed 
of fire, hyacinth or saltpetre, and brimstone ; the second, as 
composed of fire, smoke, and brimstone ; that is, the musket 
gunpowder, which is finer, has in its composition a larger 
proportion ( f saltpetre : and the cannon gunpowder, which is 
coarser, cor.«ains a larger share of charcoal which produces 
the smoke. And such, it is known, is really the composition 
used at this day. 

This explanation is further confirmed by what follows in 
the text : " For the power of the horses is in their mouths and 
in their tails. For their tails are like to serpents, and have 
heads ; and with them they hurt," v. 19. The power of the 
imagined horses, or real cannon, lying in their mouths and 
in their tails, signifies, that the mischievous power of the can- 
non is directed to the object by their mouths, but takes its 
birth in the tail or breech of the cannon, where the charge is 
lodged ; whence the cannon's breech is here compared to the 
serpent's head, which contains his venom. 

" And by these three plagues was slain the third part of 
men, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, 
which issued out of their mouths," v. 18. This destructive 
instrument, gunpowder, the invention of latter ages, will there- 
fore be employed by the Antichristian army, all along in its 
progress, to slay the third part of men, probably the wicked. 
And this is conformable to what we read under the fourth 
seal: "Power was given to him, to kill w r ith sword, with 
famine, and with death, (or gunpowder,) and with the beasts 
of the earth," (or cavalry.) Apoc. vi. 8. See the explication 
of t fiat seal. 

As we left the two armies engaged, a question may be asked 
about the issue of the battle. What it will be with respect to 
the great hero, the Antichristian emperor, we learn from St. 
John, who, however, so closely connects this event w T ith that 
prince's alliance to the Roman empire, that we must beg leave 
to follow our inspired writer in joining the accounts of both 
together. 

Chap. xiii. v. 1. " And I saw," says St. John, " a beast 
coming up out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, 
and upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of 
blasphemy. 

V. 2. " And the beast, which I saw r , was like to a leopard, 
and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the 
mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his own strength 
and great power. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 233 

V. 3. " And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to 
death." 

The beast which St. John sees here rising up from the sea, 
or from the tumultuous scenes of war and the fluctuations of 
the world, represents the ancient pagan empire of Rome. For 
the beast he says has seven heads and ten horns ; we have 
before shown, seven heads are seven heathen Roman empe- 
rors, persecutors of Christianity, the last of whom will be 
Antichrist ; and the horns are the northern powers that de- 
stroyed and divided among themselves the western part of 
that empire. " Upon his horns were ten diadems or crowns ;" 
whereas in chap. 12. v. 3, on his heads were seven diadems. 
This passing of the diadems from the heads to the horns, 
shows that old Rome had lost her sovereignty which had 
been wrested from her emperors by those northern people 
who had crowned themselves with it. And the beast had 
upon his heads names of blasphemy ; blasphemies, which 
the heathen emperors spoke against Christ; blasphemies, or 
pagan gods which they set up in opposition to him ; blas- 
phemies, or divine honours, which those emperors required to 
be paid to themselves. 

Let us take notice that St. John here gives us in abridg- 
ment the successive periods of the Roman empire. It is de- 
scribed, as first ruling under a succession of idolatrous heads 
or emperors, and then pulled down and divided among a num- 
ber of invaders denoted by the horns. From them it passes 
to become the Antichristian empire, as appears by what fol- 
lows : " And the beast which I saw," says St. John, " was 
like to a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and 
his mouth as the mouth of a lion." But here we must pre- 
viously observe, that this extraordinary beast is in its exterior 
form made up of the three animals, the leopard, the bear, and 
the lion ; because the empire of Rome had reduced under its 
dominion the countries belonging to the three successive 
empires of Babylon, of Persia, and of Greece, which are ex- 
hibited by the prophet Daniel under the types of those three 
animals. " I saw," says Daniel, " in my vision — And four 
great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea. 
The first was like a lioness — And behold another beast like a 
bear — After this I beheld, and lo another like a leopard." 
Dan. vii. 3, &c. Which three beasts here specified have 
always been understood to denote the three above-named em- 
pires. These empires preceded that of Rome, and then passed 
into its dominion ; for which reason it is here represented as 
20* 



234 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

composed of them. Great empires are indicated by the pro- 
phets under the figure of beasts, on account of the devastation 
and havoc they make, like wild beasts, in the world, to raise 
up their dominion. 

This observation premised, St. John says : " and the beast 
which I saw, was like to a leopard ;" the body of the beast 
was like unto a leopard, that is, the centre and capital part of 
the Roman empire under Antichrist will be the Grecian em- 
pire denoted by the leopard. After the division of the ancient 
Roman state, the eastern part chiefly consisted of the territory 
of the ancient empire of Macedon or Greece. The Turkish 
emperor, Antichrist, will one day be in possession of it ; and 
from it will arise the Antichristian kingdom. Rome was 
destroyed with the western empire : Constantinople then be- 
came the capital of the remaining part of the Roman empire ; 
it will be also Antichrist's capital city: and it is now the 
centre and seat of the Turkish, or formerly Grecian monar- 
chy ; and from this centre, conquest will be carried into those 
countries that formed the western part of the ancient Roman 
empire, and over the whole world. Thus, then, the Antichrist- 
ian empire is founded on the empire of ancient Greece, at 
present the Constantinopolitan empire. Hence, it appears 
why the body of the beast is like to a leopard. 

St. John's description of the beast may receive a further 
elucidation from the prophecy of Daniel concerning the Ro- 
man empire, which was also represented to him under the 
figure of a beast, the fourth of those which he saw in a vision. 
" After this I beheld," says he, " in the vision of the night, 
and lo a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding 
strong ; it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, 
and treading down the rest with its feet," vii. 7. Which an 
angel explained to the prophet thus : " The fourth beast will 
be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than 
all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall 
tread it down and break it in pieces." Ibid. v. 23. It is 
plain, that what Daniel here says of the Roman empire, has 
never yet been completely fulfilled. For, though the power 
of ancient Rome extended into Europe, Asia, and Africa, yet 
there remained vast countries unsubdued in each of those 
parts, besides America, which was not then known: conse- 
quently, the Roman power did not reach over the whole earth, 
as Daniel here specifies it should. Then, though Rome 
sometimes treated the conquered people with severity and 
haughtiness, yet it cannot be said that she devoured the whole 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 235 

earth, and trod it down, and broke it in pieces. Daniel's pro- 
phecy having therefore been but partially accomplished in the 
ancient empire of Rome, it remains to be completed in that 
Roman empire, of which Antichrist will be the head, and which 
will extend over the whole earth. — And now it will appear 
that the texts of the two prophets help to explain one another. 
The beast, says St. John, had a mouth as the mouth of a lion, 
a proper animal to devour, as Daniel terms it. The beast, 
again, according to St. John, had feet as the feet of a bear, an 
animal that treads down its prey with its feet, as Daniel speaks 
of it. Lastly, the beast, according to St. John, was like to a 
leopard, which with its teeth of a lion and claws of a bear, may 
break in pieces, as Daniel says of it, or tear in pieces whatever 
it seizes. Such will be the violence and tyranny of Anti- 
christ's dominion when he becomes universal monarch. 

But we must here further observe, that not only the ulti- 
mate accomplishment of what belongs to the Roman empire 
will have its place at the time of Antichrist, but the same must 
be applied to the ancient empire of Greece, now represented 
by the Constantinopolitan or Ottoman empire, which we have 
shown to be the foundation and centre of the Antichristian 
kingdom. For, Daniel speaking of the empire of Greece, 
says : " It shall rule over all the world," ii. 39 ; to w^hich also 
alludes what he applies to it in another place : " Power was 
given to it," vii. 6. But it is well known, that Alexander the 
Great, who reared up the Grecian empire, never ruled over 
the whole world. The extent of his dominion fell far short 
of it. This prophecy remains therefore to be finally com- 
pleted in Antichrist, who will be the last head of both Roman 
and Grecian empires. 

To return to our text : St. John said, u And the dragon gave 
him (the beast) his own strength, (here the Greek adds, and 
his throne,) and great powers," v. 2. The dragon, or Satan, 
prince of the infernal kingdom, gives his own strength to the 
beast or the Antichristian empire ; that is, to its emperor, the 
Antichristian prince, and his agents ; the dragon or Satan 
gives him, I say, his own strength, or his armies of hellish 
fiends to fight and act for him ; in the same manner as the 
northern powers (Apoc. xvii. 13.) gave their strength to the 
beast, that is, their armies to the Romans for their assistance. 

And this is conformable to what was said under the fourth 
seal : " And hell followed him." Apoc. vi. 8. The dragon 
furthermore gives to the Antichristian emperor his throne, by 
constituting him his visible substitute, representative, and dele- 



236 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

gate to rule and command as he pleases. In fine, the dragon 
gives him great power, or a surprising faculty of working 
counterfeit miracles and imposing upon mankind by art and 
deceit ; his coming (Antichrist's) being, as St. Paul tells us, 
according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, 
and lying wonders. 2 Thess. ii. 9. — St. John proceeds, 

V. 3. " And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to 
death ; and his death's wound was healed. And all the earth 
was in admiration after the beast." 

This head of the beast is the Antichristian monarch, as 
fully appears by the description that follows in this chapter: 
and here St. John sees him as it were slain to death, that is, 
wounded mortally, or at least so in appearance. Such, then, 
is the issue of the above-mentioned battle. This accident un- 
doubtedly spreads consternation throughout his army, and 
raises exultation and courage in his enemies. But these dis- 
positions are soon reversed in consequence of what is added, 
"and his death's wound was healed," his deadly wound is 
cured by Satan, who constantly attends him.* " And all the 
earth was in admiration after the beast:" the whole world is 
astonished at seeing or hearing the account of this extraor- 
dinary cure, which exceeded all human power and art ; and 
thereupon a great part of mankind embrace the party of the 
beast or of the Antichristian king. The denomination of 
beast was before appropriated to his empire, and he was one 
of its heads; but now he himself is styled the beast, because 
he is the sole and last head by which the beast lives and be- 
comes a single animal, the other six heads of former emperors 
being dead. He may be also said to come up out of the sea, 
as was said of the beast in ver. I, because we suppose him to 
be born in Crim Tartaryupon the Black Sea, and to succeed 

* If with St. Jerom, Theodoret, and others, we understand Antichrist to 
be the shepherd and idol spoken of in the following passage of the prophet 
Zacharv • ll Behold I will raise up, says the Lord, a shepherd in the land, 
who shall not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal 
what is broken, nor nourish that which stands: and he shall eat the flesh 
of the fat ones, and break their hoofs. O shepherd and idol, that forsakes the 
flock ! the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye : his arm shall quite 
wither away, and his riphteye shall be utterly darkened." Zach. xi. 16, 17. 
'This passage, we apprehend, may point out to us how and in what manner 
the Antichristian king is wounded, viz. the sword upon his arm and upon 
his right eye; and St. John tells us, " he had the wound by the sword." 
Apoc. xiii. 14. Perhaps he receives a stroke upon the head, which reaches 
down to the right eye, and opens the skull. And though he is cured by the 
operation of the devil, yet, as diabolical operations usually are, the cure 
may remain imperfect; as seems to be indicated by what is added: "his 
arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." 
How different are the works of the finger of God ; *iot done by halves, but 
complete and perfect, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 237 

to the Ottoman empire of Constantinople, which city also 
stands on the sea. 

The people were seized with astonishment, as just above- 
mentioned, ver. 4. " And they adored the dragon, which gave 
power to the beast : and they adored the beast, saying: who 
is like to the beast ? and who shall be able to fight with him ?" 

They suppose the cure of the deadly w 7 ound to have been 
performed by the dragon, or Satan ; and they immediately 
worship the dragon, for his having shown such a visible pro- 
tection to this monarch, and vested him with power, authority, 
and dominion, beyond any monarch that ever existed. Upon 
these considerations they also proclaim this prince superior to 
every other creature, invincible, a God, and adore him, say- 
ing : " who is like to the beast ? and who shall be able to fight 
with him ?" This abominable idolatrous worship may the 
more easily take place, as we have already observed that 
idolatry will probably have been revived in the world some- 
what before this time by the working of Satan, from the mo- 
ment of his having been let loose. 

Before we proceed further, let us observe from what we 
have already related out of the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse, 
that the Roman empire, w r hich had been long ago destroyed, is 
here revived anew under the Antichristian monarch, who is 
here styled the head of the beast. And this is agreeable to 
the prediction of chap. 17. v. 8, of the Apocalypse, (see page 
103 :) " The beast, which thou sawest, was, and is not, and 
shall come up out of the bottomless pit, and go into destruc- 
tion: And the inhabitants of the earth (whose names are not 
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) 
shall wonder, seeing the beast, that was, and is not •" here the 
Greek text adds, and yet is, which makes the sense more 
complete: the Roman empire in its last period, that is, the 
Antichristian empire, is here said to rise from the bottomless 
pit or abyss of hell, because Satan, who lately came from 
thence, is the soul and actuater of that empire, as he was of 
the same Roman empire in its first period : and we have just 
now seen, that effectually the dragon or Satan gave him, the 
Antichristian emperor, his own strength, and his throne, and 
great power. Besides, by Satan this Roman and Antichristian 
empire is also made the empire of idolatry, as it had been 
under the ancient Roman emperors ; for, we saw above, that 
they adored the dragon, who gave power to the beast; and 
they adored the beast. This extraordinary re-appearance of 
that powerful and idolatrous empire, so long ago lost, and its 



238 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

signal elevation by the power and management of the devil, 
seem to form a subject of great astonishment to the world, and 
the chief inducement to idolatry ; for it is here said, the inha- 
bitants of the earth (whose names are not written in the book 
of life) shall wonder, seeing the beast, that was, and is not, 
and yet is ; and again : and all the earth was in admiration 
after the beast. Above, v. 3. But here the servants of God 
ought to admire the divine bounty and providence, and may 
receive comfort, from what is here added, that the beast or 
idolatrous Antichristian empire will soon go into destruction — 
we now likewise see appear in the course of the Apocalyp- 
tical history that remarkable personage, the Antichristian 
emperor, who is the seventh and last head "of the idolatrous 
Roman empire, conformably to what we were admonished to 
expect, in chap. 17. v. 10, five (of the heads) are fallen, one is, 
and the other is not yet come : and when he is come, he must 
remain a short time. See page 103. Happy indeed for 
mankind that he must remain but a short time. 

To return to the issue of the battle fought in the neigh- 
bourhood of Jerusalem, between the Antichristian emperor's 
army and that of his enemies, we saw him, as it were mortally 
wounded, then cured by Satan, and soon re-appearing at the 
head of his troops, upon which follows almost a general de- 
fection of the people, and of his enemies, who came over to 
his party. In consequence of this, we suppose that the small 
remainder of the adverse army flies before him, and he enters 
Jerusalem. 

And now we are arrived, as we conceive, at the period 
when this ambitious and impious hero declares himself for- 
mally Antichrist, that is, enemy to Christ. Enraged, on one 
side, at his having been wounded and thrown into the jaws of 
death, perhaps by Christian troops ; enraged again by the 
defection of the Jews from him, who before had owned him 
for their Messiah, but whom he finds now become Christians, 
and renouncing all connexion with him, looking upon him as 
the most audacious and basest of impostors: on the other 
hand, elated by his extraordinary cure, and seeing himself 
guarded and supported by the whole power of the devil, and 
multitudes all around him acknowledging the same, he swells 
with the spirit of pride and arrogance, with which he is in- 
spired by Satan, who has entered into him. He thinks him- 
self all-powerful. In these satanic dispositions he resolves to 
acknowledge no superior, in heaven or on earth ; and in that 
view he proceeds to a temple in Jerusalem, some Christian 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 239 

Church, which he enters, and there extolling his own supreme 
authority, his dominion, his unlimited power over every thing, 
he proclaims himself God, and ordains divine homage and 
worship to be paid to his person. This we learn from St. 
Paul, who thus speaks of him : " The man of sin, the son of 
perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of 
God,* showing himself as if he were God,"t 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. 

* In the Greek, " He sitteth in the temple of God as God/' 

t Would not one suspect that the devil has suggested the titles usually 
assumed by the sultans or Turkish emperors of Constantinople, viz. " God 
upon earth, the shadow of God, the giver of all earthly crowns," &c. : as 
thus these emperors anticipate in some measure what belongs to their last 
successor, Antichrist, who will arrogate to himself the real deity and power 
expressed by these titles. 

I shall here add a copy of such like assuming titles, translated verbatim 
from the Arabic language, as appears in the following assent for the ar- 
mistice agreed on ana sent by the Grand Vizier to his Excellency Count 
Peter Alexander Romanzow : 

" Firmly relying upon the assistance of the only, indivisible, one God, to 
whom nothing is comparable, and who created all things, and declared and 
revealed his divine will through the great Mahomet." Amen. 

" The most righteous, and most powerful, and great emperor and sultan, 
created to this dignity by the eternal election of the Almighty; gifted with 
the imperial and philanthropic qualities for exhibiting the welfare and pros- 
perity of the holy state of Mecca ; and invested with the highest power, 
and reigning over an infinite multitude of nations, both by land and sea; 
who is the wisest among the righteous sultans, the most deservedly elected, 
and worthiest among all the regents ; Sovereign Lord and Ruler over all 
the princes in the world ; the only legislator and sovereign, chosen to it 
out of the most serene pedigree in the world; all his servants, that is to 
say, all the inhabitants of the world, return him hearty thanks for the least 
grace he shows to them, and especially for the grace he shows to them by 
the present declaration, through me, Mahomet, nis unworthy servant and 
slave. Whereas, the extreme need and misery of his subjects, which are 
intrusted to him, by the eternal Creator himself, went to his heart. Accord- 
ing to his imperial philanthropy, be all the world witness, and learn, mo- 
rals. How violent the love for his subjects, being in his most noble heart, 
by thus condescending, through the great love he bears towards his ser- 
vants, to agree upon the present armistice: He declares, before the eyes of 
the wise and virtuous men, whom he has made free, and exempted from 
their servitude, that, had it been possible, according to his honour and glory, 
he would have laid before them the circumstances and events which have 
pleased God and the great Mahomet, and which have been the cause of 
breaking the peace between the everlasting Ottoman empire and the Rus- 
sian inhabitants. After which unreasonable and unclear behaviour in the 
eyes of God from the Russian side, the sovereign of the globe, my master, 
lighted the fire of war; but, alas! what homicide and bloodshed on both 
sides hath there been during these last four or five years? 

"And although it has been predestinated so to be in the eternal council 
of God, yet as it requires a reconciliation through the great prophet Maho- 
met, and seeing that at last the most famous prince, the greatest of the 
princes who believe in Jesus, the only elected man of the people of the 
Messiah, the only decider of the business and rights of the nations of Na- 
zareth, to whom my master allows glory and majesty during his pious will ; 
the high, the happiest governor, and emperor of Germany, and likewise the 
king of Prussia, the end of both which princes, so that they may be led into 
the way of salvation; and they having looked into the terrible bloodshed- 
ding, and written constantly to their minister, residing at the court of the 



240 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

He thus imitates, but far surpasses in arrogance, Caius Cali- 
gula and other Roman emperors, his ancient predecessors, 
who impiously claimed to themselves divine honours. 

From the above passage of St. Paul, some have inferred 
that Antichrist will rebuild the great temple of Jerusalem. 
But, if that temple is ever to be rebuilt, probably it will not 
be done until after the ravages and persecution of Antichrist, 
according to that prophecy of Daniel : "And there shall be in 
the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation 
shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end," ix. 
27. Besides, one may observe that in the New Testament 
the great temple of Jerusalem is always expressed by the 
Greek word iepon, and a common temple or church by the 
word naoe, as in the present passage of St. Paul; which 
gives us reason to think, that the apostle does not here speak 
of the great temple. 

However that may be, Antichrist proceeds to forbid any 
other deity to be acknowledged but himself, and prohibits all 
worship of the Supreme Being, all exercise of the Christian 
religion, and particularly the sacrifice of the altar, because 
Christ is there personally adored as God. These presump- 
tuous extravagancies, were, in general, foretold by the prophet 
Daniel. " From the time," says he, " when the continual sacri- 
fice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation 

most illustrious Porte, to cry for mercy before the most brilliant and glo- 
rious throne of my master, whose unworthy slave I am. And as it was at 
the same time the most ardent wishes and longing from the throne of the 
glorious princess who is so high esteemed by the princes who believe in 
Jesus, who reigns over many nations of Nazareth, and governs the people 
of the Messiah with honour, and with heroic mind ; and who acknowledges 
her errors and unjust contrivances against the most illustrious Porte, name- 
ly, the empress of Russia, whose end also be blessed, and may she be led 
into the way of salvation! What a glory for the great and high, mighty, 
just, wise, and virtuous sultan, to see all the nations of Europe represented 
by tne ministers of the princes surrounding his throne, and sighing for his 
gracious will ! but not to gain the favour of all those princes, nor yet influ- 
enced by their power or magnificence, hath been the cause of his gracious 
will ; for nothing but the love for his subjects in particular, and for man- 
kind in general, hath he declared his most pious and gracious will to agree 
upon an armistice, as a beginning and the first stone to peace and harmony, 
which he having thus accepted of, the whole world is rejoiced, and the na- 
tions bring him thanks to his most glorious throne; ana to me, his unwor- 
thy slave, lie gave a full power, to which I have appointed one of the mem- 
bers of the highest divan, the president of the college of Revillon, a com- 
mander of six regiments of horse, the most worthy Sen Abdal Rerim Ef- 
fendi, whose glory may increase! who sent to me the nine articles of it 
after it was agreed upon : and as I found them consisting with the honour, 
glory, and magnificence of my master, whose unworthy slave I am, and 
who gave me full power to give my assent in his gloriful name, therefore 
I say, with joy and praise to Goi, and to the great prophet Mahomet, he 
may continue the peace among mankind, and increase the glory of the 
wisest and most just sultan, &c. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 241 

shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred ninety 
days," xii. 11. The continual or daily sacrifice of the altar, 
is here said to be taken away ; and the abomination unto deso- 
lation is set up, that is, the abominable worship of a man is 
set up in the place of that of God. A similar impiety and 
abomination was formerly practised by the idolatrous king 
and implacable enemy of the Jews, Antiochus Epiphanes, 
who " forbade holocausts and sacrifices and atonements to be 
made in the temple of God — and set up the abominable idol 
of desolation* upon the altar of God." 1 Maccab. i. 47, &c. 
57. We seem to be also forewarned of Antichrist's abomina- 
tion, as we observed under the sixth seal, by our Saviour him- 
self; when he said : " When therefore you shall see the abomi- 
nation of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the pro- 
phet, standing in the holy place, he that readeth, let him un- 
derstand : Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the 
mountains." Matth. xxiv. 15, 16. Upon these words of our 
Saviour St. Chrysostom speaks thus : " For three years and 
six months the Christian sacrifice must be taken away by An • 
tichrist, and the Christians flying away before him into the 
deserts, there will be no one to frequent the Church, or to offer 
the oblation to God." Homii. 49. in Matth. 24. 

It is worth our notice what we further learn from the 
above-cited passage of Daniel, that from the time when the 
daily sacrifice will be suppressed, and the abomination set up, 
there will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days, to the 
end of Antichrist's persecution, which Daniel had spoken of 
in the preceding verse. That persecution will last three years 
and a half, as we shall see hereafter. Hence, then, if the year 
be supposed to consist of 365 days, three years and a half 
make 1278 days, wh ; ch the number 1290 exceeds by twelve; 
so that there will be an interval of twelve days between the 
time when Antichrist sets himself up for God in the temple, 
and the beginning of his persecution. But this interval will 
be thirty days, if the year be reckoned only of 360 days, or 
forty-two months of thirty days each, which round way of 
counting is usual with the prophets. 

As therefore a most cruel persecution is soon to follow, and 
all sorts of other means will likewise be employed by that 
monster of iniquity, Antichrist, to force the worship of his 
pretended divinity upon the world, the Almighty sends a most 
strong and pathetic admonition to mankind to warn them 
against that seduction : " And I saw," says St. John, " another 

* The statue of Jupiter Olympius.: 
21 



242 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the eternal 
gospel, to preach unto them that sit upon the earth, and over 
every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people: 

" Saying with a loud voice : fear the Lord, and give him 
honour, because the hour of his judgment is come : and adore 
ye him, that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains 
of waters." Apoc. xiv. 6, 7. 

The angel here may represent Henoch and his attendants, 
the pastors of the Church, who with great vigour will preach 
up, first in Jerusalem, and then in all other nations, the eter- 
nal gospel or everlasting covenant, Isai. xxiv. 5 ; that is, the 
eternal law, founded in nature itself, that forbids divine wor- 
ship to be paid to any creature, as being the incommunicable 
right of the Supreme Being. They will say : adore not this 
impostor, who deceitfully pretends to a power over heaven, 
earth, sea, and fountains of water ; but " adore him that really 
made heaven, and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters/* 
and has power to do with them what he pleases. These ex- 
hortations the preachers will enforce with that peculiar rea- 
son here given, "because the hour of his judgment is come," 
because the time will soon come, in three years and a half, 
when the judgment of God will fall upon this " man of sin, 
this son of perdition," Antichrist, and he shall be exter- 
minated. 

Antichrist finding that many, particularly the Jews, refuse to 
pay him divine honour, he will first endeavour to bring them 
over by persuasive methods. For that purpose he will avail 
himself of the " power which the dragon gave him," as we 
saw above, of performing wonders and working false miracles. 
Many prodigies, therefore, and extraordinary performances, 
by the devil's operation, he will exhibit ; " whose coming," 
says St. Paul, " is according to the working of Satan, in all 
power, and signs, and lying wonders," 2 Thess. ii. 9. By 
the dazzling appearance of these wonderful operations, many 
will be staggered in their faith, and will be seduced to wor- 
ship this mock-God, as we seem to learn from our Saviour, 
who said: "There shall arise false Christs and false pro- 
phets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as 
to deceive, if possible, even the elect," Matth. xxiv. 24. But 
Christ, whose providence is never wanting to his Church, will 
interpose his power to baffle that of the devil and Antichrist. 
He will invest many of the Christian preachers, particularly 
Henoch and Elias, with extraordinary miraculous powers. As 
Moses and Aaron were sent by the Almighty to contend with 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 243 

Pharaoh and his magicians, and to rescue the Israelites from 
slavery : so will Elias and Henoch be the two chief messen- 
gers, whom Christ will employ to oppose his enemy Anti- 
christ, and to preserve the elect from falling into his snares. 
And as the magicians of Egypt, with all their demoniacal 
charms and incantations, were vanquished by the signal supe- 
riority of the miracles of Moses and Aaron ; so will the pro- 
digies of Antichrist be eclipsed and confounded by the far 
greater number and splendour of the miracles of Elias and 
Henoch. " And I will give," says Christ, " unto my two wit- 
nesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty 
days, clothed in sackcloth. And if any man will hurt them, 
in this manner must he be slain. — These have power to shut 
Heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy ; and 
they have pow r er over waters to turn them into blood, and to 
strike the earth with all plagues as often as they will." Apoc. 
xi. 3, 5, 6. These miracles we have before explained, see 
page 140. In conformity to this passage St. Ephron speaks 
thus : " God in his mercy will send Elias and Henoch, who 
will openly exhort the people not to believe in Antichrist." 
Serm. de Antichr. And St. Ambrose : " Henoch and Elias 
are destined to be the Apostles of the last times ; for they are 
to be sent before the last coming of Christ, to prepare the 
people of God, and to animate all the Churches to resist An- 
tichrist." In Ep. 1. ad Corinth, c. 4. — St. Gregory the Great 
likewise says, that " Elias and Henoch will appear upon the 
stage of the world to oppose Antichrist" In Job, lib. 15. c. 
36. When the powers of the Almighty and Satan come in 
competition, the latter must certainly vanish. — Whence it fol- 
lows, that those only will be deluded, who wilfully shut their 
eyes to the clear light of evidence; and so we are informed 
by St. Paul; " whose coming," Antichrist's, " is according to 
the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying won- 
ders, and in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish ; be- 
cause they receive not the love of the truth that they might be 
saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, 
to believe lying ; that all may be judged who have not be- 
lieved the truth, but have consented to iniquity." 2 Thess. ii. 
9, 10, 11. 

Antichrist seeing all his wonderful operations baffled by the 
shining evidence of Henoch's and Elias's miracles, and per- 
ceiving that multitudes of Christians refuse to acknowledge 
his godhead, he swells with anger, and being actuated by the 
hellish fiend that possesses him, he arrogantly boasts of his pre- 



244 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

eminence over all other men that have ever existed, of the 
greatness of his empire, of the number of his armies, of his 
command over all the beings and works of nature, and even 
presumes to extol his own power above that of the Almighty; 
as it seems to follow from what St. John proceeds to say of 
him: 

Chap. xiii. 5. "And there was given to him a mouth 
speaking great things, and blasphemies." And St. Paul calls 
him, "the man of sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and 
is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.' 1 
2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. Daniel also gives us much the same pic- 
ture of him : "And behold," says that prophet, u eyes like the 
eyes of a man were in this little horn, and a mouth speaking 
great things," vii. 8. We have before observed, that Anti- 
christ is meant by the little horn, which is here said to have 
eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great 
things ; the eyes of a man and a mouth indicate a man, one 
individual man, who speaks great things, as we have just 
heard from St. John. Daniel goes on painting his character: 
" and he shall think himself able to change times and laws," 
vii. 25. He will imagine himself powerful enough to change 
times, the course of times and seasons of the year, as night 
into day, winter into summer, &c, and to change laws, to alter 
the laws by which nature acts, by w r hich the sun, and moon, 
and other planets, move, to alter their times of rising and set- 
ting, to raise up the harvest in winter, and to make the earth 
barren in summer, and to command the clouds to rain, or not, 
at his pleasure ; in fine, he will boast of having power to re- 
verse the whole order of nature. And perhaps he will attempt 
some particular of this sort, which by the devil's aid he may 
apparently effect. 

V. 5. "And power was given him to do two and forty 
months. 5, He is permitted by the Almighty to do what he 
pleases during two and forty months, or three years and a 
half: or else, as the Greek text has it, power was given him 
to make war two and forty months, which he resolves to do 
with the utmost violence and cruelty. 

V. 6. "And he opened his mouth unto blasphemies, 
against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and 
them that dwell therein." Here is a shocking picture of An- 
tichrist's superlative arrogance and unparalleled impiety. In- 
flated with the venom that Satan instils into his heart, and 
furious against the Christians, whom, with all his art and 
feigned miracles, he has not been able to gain over, he now, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 245 

in rage, flies in the face of heaven. He pours out blasphe- 
mies against God ; Lucifer-like, he revolts against God, and 
blasphemes him ; he blasphemes his name, that is, religion, 
which commands homage to be paid to the Supreme Being 
alone ; he blasphemes his tabernacle, or heaven, the seat of 
God, and his Church on earth; he blasphemes them that 
dwell in heaven, that is, the angels and saints. Thus this 
monster of iniquity, like a swollen sea that overtops all boun- 
daries, rises up against God and every thing that is holy. — 
Daniel with one stroke of his pencil draws much the same 
picture of him : " And he will speak words against the Most 
High," vii. 25. He seems to have sucked up all the virulence 
and spirit of impiety of the preceding ages. In the fourth 
vial, we heard blasphemies against the name of God, Apoc. 
xvi. 9 ; and in the fifth vial, blasphemies against the God of 
heaven, Apoc. xvi. 11. Both these sorts of blasphemy Anti- 
christ uses, and adds others to them. 

St. John seems to intimate in his first Epistle, some parti- 
cular instances of this man's presumption and opposition to 
Christ. He will deny that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah, 
and will thereby endeavour to take away the belief of the 
blessed Trinity. " Who is a liar,* but he who denieth that 
Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, f who denieth the 
Father and the Son." 1 Ep. ii. 22. He will deny that the 
Son of God took human flesh : " Every spirit that dissolveth 
Jesus4 is not of God ; and this is Antichrist, § of whom you 
have heard that he comes and is now already in the world." 
1 Ep. iv. 3. — Here St. John says that Antichrist, who they 
have heard will one day come into the world, " is now already 
in the world ;.* that is, there are already in the world men, 
who broach such impious doctrine about Christ, as Antichrist 
himself will do. Such were the Simonians and Corinthians 
in St. John's time. St. Paul has likewise sufficiently described 
the detestable character of Antichrist, calling him, "the man 
of sin, that sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as 
if he were God — whose coming is according to the working 
of Satan." 2 Thess. c. 2. And in a similar strain have also 
the ancient fathers spoken of him. " Satan," says St. Jerom, 
"will wholly possess Antichrist," in Dan. c. 7. St. Chrysos- 
tom says : " Antichrist will be a man, that will possess all 

* In the Greek text, (the liar.) 
t In the Greek, (the Antichrist.) 

t In the Greek, (that doth not confess that Jesus Christ is come in tha 
flesh.) 
§ In the Greek, (and this is the spirit of Antichrist.) 
21* 



246 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

the power of Satan." St. Irenseus is very ample in the de- 
scription of his character. Ad versus Haer. lib. 5. c. 25. 

St. John proceeds, 

V. 7. " And it was given unto him to make war with the 
saints, and to overcome them." Here Antichrist has power 
allowed him to persecute "the saints," or good Christians, 
" and to overcome thern," or put them to death with great 
cruelty and torments ; and this we shall soon see him putting 
in execution. 

V. 7. " And power was given him over every tribe, and 
people, and tongue, and nation." 

His power, his dominion will extend over every nation and 
people of the globe. Already monarch of a great part of the 
kingdoms of the earth, when he commences Antichrist ; the 
rest he will now subdue, and thus will become master to 
tyrannize over mankind, and persecute religion in every 
corner of the world. We shall here just remark, that the 
reason why St. John in this and several other places of the 
Apocalypse uses the four terms, tribe, people, tongue, and 
nation, seems to be to indicate the four great divisions of the 
earth, Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; the term people, 
probably being put for Europe; nation, for Asia; tongue, for 
Africa ; and tribe, for America. And the order in which the 
above terms stand in this place, perhaps indicates the progres- 
sive course of Antichrist's conquests. 

V. 8. " And all that dwell upon the earth, adored him,* 
whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, 
which was slain from the beginning of the world." 

Here we see such a general apostacy of mankind, that, ex- 
cept those whose names are written in the book of life of the 
Lamb, which was slain from the beginning of the world in 
the decrees of God, that is, except the predestined, all the rest 
yield to the tyranny and persecution of Antichrist, and adore 
him as a God. 

The preceding account of Antichrist's character, power, and 
actions, doubtless, must appear to every one very alarming : 
nevertheless we further learn from St. John, that this man of sin, 
this son of perdition, notwithstanding his exorbitant power 
and satanic malice, as if yet not sufficiently armed for mis- 
chief, will acquire an associate of the same stamp as himself, 
who will perform the function of his principal minister, and 
be his chief aid in the course of his future proceedings. 

Chap. xiii. 1 1. " And I saw," says St. John, " another beast 
* In the Greek text, (will adore him.) 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 247 

coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns, like a 
lamb, and he spoke as a dragon." The first beast, ver. 1, ap- 
peared to St. John rising out of the sea, because it was the 
figure of a great empire, or a great emperor, viz. Antichrist: 
this second beast, therefore, rising out of the earth, denotes a 
private man. And he had two horns, like a lamb ; horns are 
an emblem of strength or power, and these two horns signify 
the power of speech, and the power of false miracles, with 
which this man is endued. These powers are similar, but 
only in appearance, to those which the true Lamb, or Jesus 
Christ, eminently possessed ; the miracles of this new man 
or second beast being no more than impostures, works 
performed by the intervention of the devil ; and his speech, 
though eloquent and engaging, is artful, hypocritical, mali- 
cious, and deceitful ; for he speaks like a dragon, or like the 
devil that deluded Eve. This man is the false prophet, as 
St. John calls him in chap. xix. 20, and other places, that at- 
tends Antichrist, is his principal agent, and, like him, receives 
all his power from the devil. St. Irenaeus mentions him thus: 
"St. John, in the Apocalypse, speaking of Antichrist's attend- 
ant, whom he calls the false prophet, says, he spoke like a 
dragon, and executed all the pow r er of the former beast in his 
sight," &c. as in the following verse. Adv. Hser. 1. v. c. 28. 

V. 12. "And he executed all the power of the former beast 
in his sight: and he caused the earth, and them that dwell 
therein, to adore the first beast, whose wound to death was 
healed." The false prophet, to enhance the credit of his mas- 
ter, will perform in his presence the same wonders that Anti- 
christ himself is capable of doing, and thus will prevail on 
them that dwell on the earth, to adore the first beast, w T hose 
wound to death was healed, that is, Antichrist, who had been 
mortally wounded, and cured. Perhaps also from the ex- 
pression, he caused the earth to adore the first beast, it may 
be inferred, that the false prophet by his enchantments wiil 
make the inanimate beings, such as trees and other things, 
appear to pay a kind of homage to Antichrist. 

V. 13. "And he did great signs, so that he made also fire 
come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men." 
Such then will be the power of the false prophet, that he will 
make fire come down from the sky, by the help of the devil. 
" What we read in the book of Job," says St. Ambrose, " that 
the devil brought down fire from heaven by the divine per- 
mission, he will do the same in the last days by his instru- 
ments, Antichrist and Antichrist's followers." 



248 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

The false prophet seems here to imitate one of Henoch's 
and Elias's miracles ; but the miracles of these two witnesses 
far outshine his in number, lustre, and evidence, and will be 
the means of preserving from seduction the men of good will, 
but will be the instrument of error to those, who, as St. Paul 
says, " receive not the love of truth that they may be saved." 
For, 

V. 14. "And he seduced them that dwell on the earth, for 
the signs which were given him to do in the sight of the beast, 
saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make 
the image of the beast,* which had the wound by the sword, 
and lived." By them that dwell on the earth, seem to be un- 
derstood those who wilfully shut their eyes to the truth, and 
them he seduces by the signs which he is allowed power to 
do in the sight of the beast, and prevails with them to raise 
an image or a statue to Antichrist, and to adore it. He en- 
forces his wonderful performances, by representing his master 
as certainly God, since he had been mortally wounded by the 
sword, and was nevertheless alive and well. But this sophister 
is not able to prove the cure to have been complete, for it is 
here said that the beast which lived, has the wound by the 
sword, that is, hath the cicatrix, or mark of the wound remain- 
ing after the cure ; an argument of its being the work of an 
imperfect operator. This agrees with what was remarked, 
p. 236. 

V. 15. " And it was given him to give life to the image of 
the beast, and the image of the beast should speak : and should 
cause, that whosoever will not adore the image of the beast, 
should be slain." The false prophet has further power, by 
the divine permission, to give apparent life to the image or 
statue of Antichrist, insomuch that it shall speak, or rather 
the devil in it, and deliver his oracles, which was often done 
in the ancient times of paganism ; and that the image shall 
cause, that whosoever will not adore the image of the beast, 
or Antichrist, shall be slain, that is, at the command of the 
devil, speaking by the statue, those who refuse to adore it 
will be put to death. This will be done in the persecution. 

V. 16. * And he shall make all, both little and great, rich 
and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their 
right hand, or on their foreheads." The same wicked minis- 
ter of Antichrist will oblige people of all denominations, such 
will be the general apostacy, to let him imprint a character 
or particular mark in their right hand or on their foreheads, 

* In the Greek, (an image to the beast, which hath the wound,) &ol 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 249 

by which they will be distinguished as the votaries of Anti- 
christ. 

V. 17. "And that no man might buy or sell, but he that 
hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number 
of his name." No one will be allowed to buy or sell any 
commodity, unless he shows the above mentioned mark, or 
the name of the beast, that is, the print upon himself of Anti- 
christ's name, or of the number of his name. A similar 
severity was used in Dioclesian's persecution, when it was 
forbid for any one to buy or sell in the public market, unless 
he firot offered incense to an idol erected there for that purpose. 

Thus will this other beast, or wicked minister of Antichrist, 
exert all his skill and power to enforce the execrable and ab- 
surd opinion of his master's divinity. Thus will he employ 
every diabolical art, both of persuasion and force, to prevail 
with his detestable enemy. And thus, as Tertullian says, 
" will the beast Antichrist with his false prophet oppress the 
Church with persecution." De Resur. Carnis, c. 25. 

It was said above that no one would be allowed to buy or 
sell, unless he bore the mark of Antichrist, or his name, or 
the number of his name. His name then is something mys- 
terious, as the letters of it will contain a particular number, 
which God in his bounty here gives as one characteristic 
among others, by which he may be known, and consequently 
rejected and abhorred. For thus proceeds St. John, 

V. 18. " Here is wisdom." He that hath understanding, 
let him count the number of the beast. For it is the number 
of a man : and the number of him is six hundred sixty-six. 

Here is wisdom, here it is proper to take notice. He that 
has understanding, he that has a share of skill and knowledge, 
let him count the number of the beast, which he may do, for 
it is the number of a man ; that is, it is the number of the 
name of a man, conformably to what is said in the preceding 
verse. And the number of him is six hundred sixty-six ; the 
number thereof contained in Antichrist's name will be 666. 
According to the account we have given of that impious man, 
he will be born a Mahometan prince, and will rise to the head 
of the Turkish empire. We may therefore be allowed to 
suppose him to bear the name of Mahomet, a name which so 
many emperors, his predecessors, will have borne before him, 
in honour of the first founder of the Mahometan religion and 
empire. This name expressed in the Greek language, be- 
cause St. John wrote the Apocalypse in Greek, is maometie, 
or moametie, as Euthymius, and the Greek historians Zono- 



250 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

ras and Credenus write it ; and according to the Greek nu- 
meration it stands thus : 



M 


• 


- 


- 


. 


40 


A 


- 


- 


- 


- 


1 


O 


- 


• 


- 


. 


70 


M 


- 


- 


. 


. 


40 


E 


- 


- 


• 


- 


5 


T 


* 


- 


- 


• 


300 


I 


- 


- 


. 


- 


10 


2 


- 


- 


■ 


- 


200 



666 

It may be here observed, how contrary to the sense of scrip- 
ture is the opinion of some moderns, who, in the spirit of op- 
position to the Catholic religion, assign for the name of Anti- 
christ a generical term, containing indeed the number 666, but 
not expressing a determinate man ; and this indeterminate 
name they apply to a succession of many persons ; whereas 
St. John plainly says ; " it is the number of a man, the num- 
ber of his name ;" it is therefore the number of the single 
name of a particular man. And in like manner is Antichrist 
evidently described by St. Paul as an individual man. For 
in what other sense, partiality apart, can the apostle be under- 
stood, when he styles him, " the man of sin, the son of perdi- 
tion, the opposer, who sitteth as God in the temple of God; 
the wicked one, whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the 
spirit of his mouth," &c. 2 Thess. 2. The description of 
him, which we have seen in Daniel, is likewise of the same 
tenor. The fathers of the Church join also in the same 
opinion, and are very copious in their account of his charac- 
ter. The whole series we have hitherto given of his history, 
drawn from those sources, plainly points him out as one indi- 
vidual being, an extraordinary man ; and it will be further 
confirmed in the sequel. In fine, such has been the constant 
and unanimous tradition from the rise of Christianity through 
all ages ; as may be seen in the series of the scripture inter- 
preters and ecclesiastical writers. Nay, even so universal 
and fixed has always been that notion of Antichrist, that it 
may be put upon a level with the belief of the former exist- 
ence of an Alexander or Julius Caesar; nor can hardly be 
found now an individual in the common class of people, and 
of the narrowest education, but knows in general the charac- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 251 

ter of that enemy of Christ, and expects his coming in the 
last period of the world. This tradition is therefore traced 
up to the time of the apostles, and owes its existence to what 
they taught. St. Paul is an express voucher, that he had in- 
structed the Thessalonians on that head. " Remember you 
not," says he, "that when I was yet with you, I told you these 
things?" 2 Thess. ii. 5. 

To return to the transactions of Antichrist : — Finding him- 
self so powerful by Satan's aid, and seconded by so able a 
minister, his false prophet, while on the other hand he sees 
the converted Jews and other Christians refusing him divine 
homage, and so fortified by the exhortations and miracles of 
their teachers, that all his pretended wonders and persuasive 
arts can make no impression upon them ; he resolves, by the 
instigation of Satan, to compel them by force into compliance, 
to show no mercy to the refractory, but to destroy them, and 
utterly abolish the Christian name. Full of self-conceit and 
rage, he is determined to suffer no rival in heaven or on earth, 
but that all mankind shall bow in homage to him as God, 
and as the sole monarch of the whole world. This he de- 
signs to effect by the invincible force of his immense army, 
with which he purposes to carry ravage, devastation, and de- 
struction, throughout every nation that resists him. Such are 
the hellish determinations he fixes ; but before he commences 
the execution of them, Christ, the faithful governor of the 
Church, and supreme in his power, is pleased to give a spe- 
cial warning to his beloved servants, and for their supper* 
proclaims the following sentence: 

Chap. xiii. 9. "If any man have an ear, let him hear:" 
let every one give attention. 

V. 10. " He, that shall lead into captivity, shall go into 
captivity : he, that shall kill by the sword, must be killed by 
the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." 
That is, in the following persecution and war of Antichrist, 
those that force others into captivity, shall themselves be made 
captives: and those that cruelly put others to death shall 
undergo the same fate. Judgment is therefore already pro- 
nounced against Antichrist and his agents, that as they deal 
with others, they shall be dealt with themselves. Then it is 
added, Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Here 
is the motive of the patience and the faith of the saints, or the 
servants of God in this world. By faith they rely on the pro- 
mises of God for the reward of their patience, and leave him 
to vindicate, as he may judge fit, their cause with respect to 



252 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

their persecutors. Such is the previous instruction Christ 
sends to his servants, before the dreadful day of persecution. 
But as the converted Jews are destined to stand foremost in 
the battle, and to be the first victims of Antichrist's fury, and 
must therefore set forth a glorious example of fortitude to the 
other Christians, they are provided with an extraordinary 
share of grace, and a peculiar degree of courage and con- 
stancy for their terrible conflict. For thus we hear this sin- 
gular favour announced by St. John: 

Chap. vii. 1. "After these things, I saw four angels stand- 
ing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds 
of the earth, that they should not blow* upon the earth, nor 
upon the sea, nor on any tree. 

V. 2. " And I saw another angel ascending from the rising 
of the sun, having the sign of the living God : and he cried 
with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to 
hurt the earth and the sea, 

V. 3. " Saying : hurt not the earth, the sea, nor the trees, 
till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads." 

Here are four angels, standing on the four corners of the 
earth, holding the four winds of the earth, which they are 
ready to let go, and which are to cause desolation over the 
whole globe. By the four winds of the earth are meant the 
persecutions which are going to rise in every part of the earth, 
and which will form the general persecution of Antichrist, as 
the four winds join to compose one general wind. But this 
persecution is withheld for a while by a divine command, 
which is carried by an angel ascending from the east, as 
coming from Him who ascended above the heaven of heavens 
to the east." Ps. lxvii. 34. The wind of persecution will 
hurt the earth and the sea, that is, will fall upon the Christian 
people wherever they are, and the trees, or their pastors and 
clergy. But this alarming disaster is suspended, till the angel 
has marked the servants of God in their foreheads with the 
sign of the living God, that is, with the sign of the cross of 
Christ, who having died upon it, rose again to life. But who 
those servants of God are, we are told in the next verse. 

V. 4. " And I heard the number of them that were signed ; 
a hundred forty-four thousand were signed, of every tribe of 
the children of Israel." No sooner almost have the Jews 
tasted the comfort of having recovered the favour of their God 
by embracing Christianity, but behold! 144,000 of them are 
marked out and destined to be immolated to Christ by martyr- 

* In the Greek, " that a wind should not blow," &c. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 253 

dom, and are therefore signed on the forehead by the minis- 
ters of the Church with the sign of the cross, or confirmed in 
faith and fortitude, as the sacrament of Confirmation is always 
conferred with making the sign of the cross on the forehead. 
Thus, then, this great number of converted Jews are prepared 
to grace Christianity by their triumph over torments and death. 
But as we learn from St. Paul, that " all Israel will be saved," 
(Rom. xi. 26,) it is plain that, considering the vast body of the 
Jewish people, the number of martyrs here mentioned, must 
fall much short of the number of converted Jews. The rest 
therefore will remain to reflect honour on the Christian reli- 
gion by their zeal in promoting it, and by their exemplary 
lives. This select number of 144,000 champions, or twelve 
times twelve thousand, is made up by culling twelve thousand 
out of each tribe, as follows: 

V. 5, " Of the tribes of Juda were twelve thousand signed. 
Of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe 
of Gad, twelve thousand signed. 

V. 6. " Of the tribe of Aser, twelve thousand signed. Of 
the tribe of Nephthali, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe 
of Manasses, twelve thousand signed. 

V. 7. " Of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand signed. Of 
the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe of 
Issachar, twelve thousand signed. 

V. 8. " Of the tribe of Zabulon, twelve thousand signed. 
Of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe 
of Benjamin, twelve thousand signed." 



CHAPTER XL 

THE CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE SIXTH AGE. 

The Almighty having prepared his faithful servants for 
the terrible conflict he proposes to subject them to, he an- 
nounces the great persecution and terrible war, and exhibits 
the state of the Church at the time they begin, in the follow- 
ing manner : 

Chap. xi. 1. "And there was given me," says St. John, "a 
reed like unto a rod: and it was said to me:* Arise, and 
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that adore 
therein. 

* In the Greek, " And the angel stood, saying." 
22 



254 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 2. " But the court, which is without the temple, cast out, 
and measure it not : because it is given unto the Gentiles,* 
and the holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty 
months.' 7 The churches consecrated to the true service of God, 
at this time, so far diminished in number, or so little filled, on 
account of the general apostacy and degeneracy of mankind, 
that all these churches are here represented to St. John as re- 
duced into one single church or temple. The faithful minis- 
ters of God are also become so few, as to be represented as 
officiating at one altar in this Church; and all the good and 
zealous Christians make up so small a number, with respect 
to the whole bulk of mankind, that they are shown to St. John 
as collected in this one temple, paying their adoration to God. 
There is therefore given to St. John a reed, or a small slender 
measuring rod, as sufficient for the few inconsiderable mea- 
sures he has to take, and he is told to measure the temple of 
God, and the altar, and them that adore therein, that the small 
size of both temple and altar may appear, and the little com- 
pass in which are comprised those who are there adoring God. 

But for the court, which is without the temple, that is, the 
great multitude of those who for want of the spirit of religion, 
enter not the temple, but stand in the court without the tem- 
ple, St. John is told not to measure them, but cast them out, 
or to banish them from the neighbourhood of the temple, be- 
cause it (the court) is given to the Gentiles, because God de- 
livers this wicked multitude to be punished and destroyed by 
the Gentiles, that is, by Antichrist and his cruel and barbarous 
troops. The execution of this divine judgment commences very 
soon. For now Antichrist, mad with fury, declares war against 
the whole world, resolves to be sole master, to spare neither 
those that resist him, nor those who have given him any pro- 
vocation, or against whom he has conceived an ill will. 
Actuated by Satan, he feels no more sense of humanity, and 
breathes only blood and destruction. In this situation he is 
in some measure pictured by Nebuchodonosor, that haughty 
king of Assyria, who in the pride of his heart proclaimed 
"that his thoughts were to bring all the earth under his em- 
pire," Judith ii. 3, and gave orders to the general of his 
armies: "Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and 
against them especially that despised my commandment. 
Thy eye shall not spare any kingdom, and the strong cities 
thou shalt bring under my yoke." Ibid. v. 5, 6. This war 

* In the Greek, the punctuation stands thus : "And measure it not, be- 
cause it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city," &c. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 255 

of Antichrist, the most bloody of all wars since the existence 
of the world, as in it are killed the third part of men, Apoc. 
ix. 1 5, will last three years and a half, as observed before from 
St. John : " and power was given him to do # two and forty 
months," xiii. 5. 

But, furthermore, in our present text is added: "And the 
holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months." 
No sooner Jias the haughty monarch, Antichrist, declared war 
against mankind, but with the same breath he proclaims a 
general persecution, which he himself intends to carry on, 
and despatches his orders to have the same executed in every 
part of the earth. For it is now allowed to him and his 
bloody agents to tread under foot the holy city, that is, the 
whole body of the holy Christians, for forty-two months, or 
three years and a half. This space of time Christ has set 
apart, to purify his Church, and to try his servants, and for 
that purpose allows them to fall under the power of this mer- 
ciless tyrant: " And it was given unto him," says St. John, 
" to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." Apoc. 
xiii. 7. We are admonished of the same by the prophet 
Daniel: "I beheld," says he, "and lo that horn (Antichrist) 
made war against the saints, and prevailed over them," v 21. 
And again, "And he shall speak words against the Most 

High, and shall crush the saints of the Most High And 

they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, 
and half a time." Ibid. v. 25. The period of the persecution, 
Daniel here expresses by a time, and times, and half a time, 
that is, a year, two years, and half a year, or three years and 
a half, the same with St. John. 

Antichrist being at this time in Jerusalem, and implacably 
irritated against the Jews, who had deserted from him, looked 
upon him with abomination, and had espoused the Christian 
religion which he hates, he resolves to* begin his bloody per- 
secution and massacre with them. He therefore sacrifices to 
his rage the above-mentioned multitude of a hundred forty-four 
thousand; but in what manner we are not told. On this 
striking catastrophe and deluge of blood, how justly may the 
body of converted Jews that remain, send up to heaven their 
lamentations and cries in those pathetic strains which their 
forefathers used upon the destruction and havoc made by 
Nabuchodonosor, a figure of what Antichrist would one day 
do. " O God, the heathens are come into thy inheritance , 

* In the Greek, " to make war." 



256 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

they have defiled thy holy temple ; they have made Jerusalem 
as a place to keep fruit. 

" They have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be 
meat for the fowls of the air, the flesh of thy saints for the 
beasts of the earth. 

11 They have poured out their blood as water, round about 
Jerusalem ; and there was none to bury them." Ps. lxxviii. 

Such a number of holy victims, doubtless, breathed forth 
from the earth the most fragrant odour, and were so acceptable 
to the heavenly court, that immediately St. John sees them in 
company with Christ, and their triumph celebrated. 

Chap. xiv. 1. "And I beheld, and lo a Lamb stood upon 
mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty-four thousand, 
having his name,* and the name of his Father, written on 
their foreheads." 

Behold the Lamb, that is, Jesus Christ, standing surrounded 
with this numerous multitude upon mount Sion, perhaps the 
theatre of their martyrdom. They are distinguished to be 
the same body of people we saw before, prepared for the com- 
bat by the angels imprinting the sign of the living God on 
their foreheads ; as now after their victory they appear before 
the Lamb with his name, and the name of his Father, written 
on their foreheads, to show that they have proved themselves 
faithful to the sign they had received, by giving testimony, 
with their blood, both to the Father and to the Lamb. Per- 
haps also did they carry, before their martyrdom, some such 
inscription on their foreheads, in opposition to the mark of 
Antichrist. 

V. 2. " And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of 
many waters, and as the voice of great thunder: and the 
voice which I heard,! was as the voice of harpers harping on 
their harps. 

V. 3. " And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the 
throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients ; 
and no man could sayj the canticle, but those hundred forty- 
four thousand, who were purchased from the earth." 

Here are the heavenly choirs celebrating the triumphs of 
these martyrs. In this exultation St. John hears a multitude 
of voices ; a voice, like that of many waters, that is, of the 
angels that preside over all the nations, denoted by many 

* In the common Greek edition, "his name" is omitted, but it is found 
in many ancient manuscripts of great authority, 
t In the Greek, u and 1 heard the voice of harpers," &c. 
*" Could learn." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 257 

waters, according to Apoc. xvii. 15, from whence the Jews 
had been gathered together; a voice, like that of great thun- 
der, or of the ax>gel that, according to chap. xiv. 18, presides 
over fire, which, as employed in military engines, by its ex- 
plosion resembles thunder; and perhaps by such thundering 
fire were these champions of religion put to death. St. John 
also hears the "voice" of a number of harpers singing a new 
hymn or canticle, which no one could learn to repeat but the 
144,000 martyrs. This special privilege is owing to their 
peculiar character, as having been tli rough former ages the 
chosen and beloved people of God, and now at last have also 
acknowledged Christ, the Lamb, for their Saviour and God, 
and laid down their lives the first for him. He by his own 
blood had u purchased them from the earth," that is, had pur- 
chased fur them these singular favours of conversion and mar- 
tyrdom, for which purpose they have been collected from all 
parts of the earth. This melodious jubilation is performed 
Defore the throne, and before the four living creatures and the 
ancients, as a thanksgiving homage to the Almighty: and a 
kind of congratulation to the four great prophets, Isaiah, Je- 
remy, Ezechiel, and Daniel, who had prophesied so much 
concerning the Jews; and to the ancients or patriarchs and 
other saints of the times preceding Christianity, w r ho from 
their former connexion with the Jews and the expected Mes- 
siah, are particularly interested in the present happy condition 
of the converted Jews. — St. John goes on, 

V. 4. " These are they who were not defiled with women : 
for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever 
he goeth. These were purchased from among men, the first 
fruit3 to God and the Lamb." 

These martyrs were not defiled witli women, but are vir- 
gins, because they never yielded to adore, either the draoon. 
or the beast, Antichrist, or his image, as multitudes of other* 
did, nor polluted themselves with any species of idolatry, 
which in the Apocalypse and other books of scripture, i« 
styled fornication or prostitution. They have 4 , therefore ac- 
quired a right to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; 
for he came into the world to destroy idolatry. They were 
likewise purchased by the blood of the Lamb, from among 
men, from among all the rest of mankind, to be the first fruits 
to God and the Lamb, that is, the first victims immolated 
to God and the Lamb, in Antichrist's persecution. Who is 
not sensible what a distinguished favour this will be to the 
Jews? That as they, in their ancestors, had renounced their 
22 # 



258 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

divine Messiah, and even put him to death, so upon their con- 
version they shall redeem that enormous crime, by spilling 
the first of their blood for him. 

V. 5. "And in their mouth was found no lie: for they are 
without spot before the throne of God." They had practised 
no dissimulation, but openly professed the Christian religion 
in the presence of Antichrist with the utmost intrepidity, and 
rejoiced to lay down their lives for Him, whom they had so 
long blindly disowned to be their Saviour- By this complete 
sacrifice of themselves they washed off all guilt, and there- 
fore stand without spot before the throne of God. 

The prophet Sophonias seemed to announce in a far distant 
age this future auspicious sacrifice of the converted Jews, and 
the general admiration it would raise through the world. " I 
will get them (the Jews) praise, saith the Lord, and a name, 
in all the land, where they had been put to confusion ; at that 
time, when I will bring you, and at the time that I will gather 
you. For I will give you a name, and praise among all 
people of the earth, when I shall have brought back your 
captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord." Sophon. iii. 19, 20. 

Thus then the Jews, become zealous Christians, will sig- 
nalize their fortitude in a peculiar manner, and will be distin- 
guished by the glorious mark of being the first victims of 
martyrdom offered to our Saviour, in the persecution of Anti- 
christ ; in the same manner as the innocent children of their 
forefathers, put to death by Herod, were the first sacrifice 
made to Christ, after he came into the world. And as those 
innocents were truly virgins in a natural sense, so will the 
converted Jews be virgins in the prophetic meaning, of not 
being defiled by any land of idolatrous prostitution. — Thus 
again we see, that as St. Stephen, a converted Jew, was the 
first martyr among the new-formed Christians, so will the 
converted Jews in the last period of the world, and in the last 
persecution, appear conspicuous by walking foremost in the 
rank with the palm of martyrdom. 

Antichrist having performed the above-recited bloody exe- 
cution at Jerusalem, prepares next to march his army of two 
hundred million horsemen, Apoc. ix. 16, with design to lay 
waste the whole earth, and to extirpate the Christians. But 
as the Almighty, even in the height of his anger, remembers 
mercy, he bountifully forewarns mankind of the scourge he 
is going to let loose upon them, in order to give them still an 
opportunity of preventing it by their conversion to him. Thus 
he proclaims the impending scourge by his prophet Sophonias. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 259 

Chap. i. 14. " The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, 
and exceeding swift : the voice of the day of the Lord is bit- 
ter, the mighty man shall there meet with tribulation. 

V. 15. " That day is the day of wrath, a day of tribulation 
and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness 
and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds: 

V. 16. "A day of trumpet and alarm against the fenced 
cities, and against the high bulwarks. 

V. 17. "And I will distress men, and they shall walk like 
blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord : and 
their blood shall be poured out as earth, and their bodies as 
dung. 

V. 18. " Neither shall their silver and their gold be able to 
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord : all the land 
shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make 
even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." 

Then the Almighty exhorts them to avert his anger by 
having recourse to his mercy. 

Chap. ii. 1. "Assemble yourselves together, be gathered 
together, (to implore mercy,) O nation not worthy to be loved. 

V. 2. "Before the decree bring forth the day as dust pass- 
ing away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, 
before the day of the Lord's indignation come upon you." 

As if this was not a sufficient proof of God's merciful dis- 
position, he is pleased to send a second pathetic warning of 
his approaching armies by his prophet Joel. 

Chap. ii. 10. "At their presence the earth has trembled, 
the heavens are moved; the sun and moon are darkened, and 
the stars have withdrawn their shining. 

V. 11. " And the Lord has uttered his voice before the face 
of his army: for his armies are exceeding great, for they are 
strong and execute his word : For the day of the Lord is very 
great and very terrible: and who can stand it?" 

Here are several of those signs, which our Saviour fore- 
warns us shall happen in the last period of the world. These 
mentioned here are sent as forerunners announcing the coming 
of the destructive army of Antichrist. At its appearance the 
earth has trembled, says Joel ; or, as our Saviour says, " there 
shall be great earthquakes." Luke xxi. 21. " The heavens 
are moved :" Christ says, " the powers of heaven shall be 
moved." Matt. xxiv. 29. " The sun and moon are darken- 
ed," continues Joel, " and the stars have withdrawn their 
shining ;" and Christ, " the sun shall be darkened, and the 
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from 



260 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

heaven." Matt. xxiv. 29. This is the voice the Lord has 
uttered before the face of his army, to strike terror into man- 
kind and bring them to themselves. " For his armies are 
exceeding great," said Joel, " they are strong, and execute his 
word : For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible : 

and who can stand it?" Again, the Almighty throws in 

another energetic exhortation to penance, desirous that the 
scourge may be taken out of his hand before he strikes : 

V. 12. "Now therefore saith the Lord," continues Joel, 
•' be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in 
weeping, and in mourning. 

V. 13. "And rend your hearts, and not your garments, 
and turn to the Lord your God : for he is gracious and mer- 
ciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the 
evil. 

V. 14. " Who knows but he will return, and forgive, and 
leave a blessing behind, sacrifice and libation to the Lord 
your God? 

V. 15. " Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a 
solemn assembly. 

V. 16. "Gather together the people, sanctify the Church, 
assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them 
that suck at the breasts : let the bridegroom go forth from his 
bed, and the bride out of her bride-chamber. 

V. 17. " Between the porch and the altar the priests, the 
Lord's ministers, shall weep, and shall say: spare, O Lord, 
spare thy people; and give not thy inheritance to reproach, 
that the heathens should rule over them. Why should they 
say among the nations, where is their God?" 

These divine admonitions not prevailing w T ith mankind, 
who have hardened themselves in iniquity, and carried it to 
a greater pitch than was ever seen in any former period of 
the world, the Almighty in his wrath lets loose the reins to 
Antichrist. This devouring beast and raging tyrant sets out 
with his army, to ravage and desolate: first, the country of 
Judaea, then all Christendom, and in fine, to trample under 
foot all the powers of the earth. The march and progress of 
this horrible army, with the havoc it makes, is described in 
most pathetic and lofty strains by the prophet Joel. The 
description, indeed, is applied by some commentators to a vast 
swarm of devouring insects ; by others, to the Chaldean troops 
coming against Jerusalem under Nabuchodonosor ; but who- 
ever will attentively view the particulars of the narrative, will 
see that they do not tally with either of those cases, but agree 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 261 

very properly with the army of the Apocalypse. — Thus cries 
out Joel: 

Chap. i. 2. " Hear this, ye old men, and give ear all ye 
inhabitants of the land : did this ever happen in your days, 
or in the days of your fathers ? 

V. 3. " Tell ye of this to your children, and let your child- 
ren tell their children, and their children to another gene- 
ration. 

V. 4. " That which the palmer-worm has left, the locust 
has eaten ; and that which the locust has left, the bruchus has 
eaten; and that which the bruchus has left, the mildew* has 
destroyed (has eaten.) 

V. 5. " Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn, 
all ye that take delight in drinking sweet wine ; for it is cut 
off from your mouth. 

V. 6. M For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and 
without number ; his teeth are like the teeth of a lion : and 
his cheek teeth, as of a lion's whelp. 

V. 7. " He has laid my vineyard waste, and has pulled off 
the bark of my fig-tree : he has stripped it bare, and cast it 
away: the branches thereof are made white." 

The four insects, palmer-w r orm, locust, bruchus, and grass- 
hopper, ver. 4, represents the four great nations, which we 
saw crossing the Euphrates, to form Antichrist's army. As 
they march at present in four separate bodies, it is said that 
what one leaves, the other eats up, to show that they leave 
famine behind them wherever they go. 

They are strong and without number, v. 6, and as furious 
lions, they root up all the vineyards and fruit trees, v. 7, after 
having devoured the fruit. Joel goes on : 

V. 8. " Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the 
husband of her youth. 

V. 9. " Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house ot 
the Lord : the priests, the Lord's ministers, have mourned. 

V. 10. " The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourn- 
ed : for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil 
hath languished. 

V. 11. "The husbandmen are ashamed, the vine-dressers 
have howled for the wheat and for the barley, because the 
harvest of the field is perished. 

V. 12. " The vineyard is confounded, and the fig-tree hath 
languished : the pomegranate-tree, and the palm-tree, and the 

* Most interpreters understand the Hebrew word, here rendered by mil- 
dew t to mean a species of grasshopper, or other insect. 



262 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

apple-tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because 
joy is withdrawn from the children of men. 

V. 17. " The beasts have rotted in their dung: the barns 
are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the 
corn is confounded. 

V. 18. " Why did the beasts groan, why did the herds of 
cattle low? because there is no pasture for them : yea, and 
the flocks of sheep are perished." 

Here, then, the corn, wane, oil, and fruit, are all swept 
away by these rapacious wolves, and such universal devasta- 
tion and desolation overspread the land, that the people are 
reduced to lamentation, famine, and despair, v. 8, the priests 
have not even bread and wine sufficient for the holy sacrifice, 
v. 9, and the beasts of the field perish for want of food, v. 17, 
18. Joel continues, 

Chap. ii. 1. " Blow ye the trumpet in Sion, sound an alarm 
in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land trem- 
ble : because the day of the Lord cometh, because it is nigh 
at hand. 

V. 2. "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of 
clouds and whirlwinds: a numerous and strong people, as 
the morning spread upon the mountains: the like to it hath 
not been from the beginning, nor shall be after it even to the 
years of generation and generation. 

V. 3. " Before the face thereof a devouring Hre, and behind 
it a burning flame : the land is like a garden of pleasure be- 
fore it, and behind it a desolate wilderness, neither is there 
any one that can escape it." 

At the approach of this tremendous army, the alarm is 
sounded, ver. 1, 2, to give notice that the day of the Lord 
cometh, the day of darkness is nigh at hand, that is, the terri- 
ble day of the wrath of God, who is now going to pour out 
his judgments upon mankind in a more severe manner than 
ever before. A numerous and strong people comes, ver. 2, a 
prodigious army appears, the like to it has not been from the 
beginning, nor shall be after it even to the years of genera- 
tion and generation, which shows it to be the army of Anti- 
christ, the most numerous that has been or will be, consisting, 
according to St. John, of two hundred million, Apoc. ix. 16. 
It overspreads the land with a swiftness, like to that of the 
aurora or morning light expanding itself over the tops of the 
mountains, ver. 2. This is done by means of incorporeal 
devils, that make part of this army, as w r e have before obser- 
ved. Before the face thereof proceeds a burning fire, v. 3, the 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 263 

fire of gunpowder with which they destroy mankind ; and 
behind it a devouring flame, arising from their setting fire to 
every thing as they march, and thus reducing the whole 
country into a desert, or as the prophet beautifully expresses 
it, the land is like a garden of pleasure before it, and behind 
it a desolate wilderness. 

V. 4. M The appearance of them," continues Joel, "is as 
the appearance of horses, and they shall run like horsemen. 

V. 5. " They shall leap like the noise of chariots upon the 
tops of mountains, like the noise cf a flame of fire devouring 
the stubble, as a strong people prepared to battle. 

V. 6. " At their presence the people shall be in grievous 
pain : all faces shall be made like a kettle." 

The picture here drawn of the army is similar to that we 
saw from the hand of St. John. Joel does not say the army 
consists wholly of cavalry, but the appearance of them is as 
the appearance of horses, ver. 4, including the artillery or 
cannon under the appearance of horses, in the same manner 
as St. John saw them. (See page 230.) The carriages of 
the cannon, as they are drawn up the mountains, make a noise 
like the noise of chariots, v. 5, and a crackling like that of a 
flame of fire devouring stubble, as they are dragged over the 
stones and rocks. These carriages are moreover said to leap 
up upon the tops of the mountains, by the celerity with which 
the hellish spirits move them forwards. Consternation, ter- 
ror, and despair, are the vanguard of such an army, all faces 
shall turn black like a kettle with fear and dread, v. 6. 

V. 7. " They shall run like valiant men," continues Joel, 
"like men of war they shall scale the wall: the men shall 
march every one on his way, and they shall not turn aside 
from their ranks. 

V. 8. " No one shall press upon his brother: they shall 
walk every one in his path : yea, and they shall fall through 
the windows, and shall take no harm. 

V. 9. " They shall enter into the city: they shall run upon 
the wall, they shall climb up the houses, they shall come in 
at the windows as a thief." 

Here is the last part of the description of this strange army. 
Their intrepidity is unparalleled. They run upon danger, or 
scale the walls of fortified towns, without the least concern, 
v. 7; and in their march they keep their ranks without press- 
ing one another, every one walking in security in his path with- 
out the least fear of enemies, v. 7, 8. Their agility is such, 
that they come in at the windows as a thief, and if they fall 



264 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

through them, they take no harm, v. 8, 9. They insinuate 
themselves into towns, though the gates be shut; they run 
upon the walls, as upon plain ground ; they get upon the tops 
of houses, as if they had wings. It is plain, such actions are 
not human actions, and consequently the agents are not men, 
but infernal spirits, as we have so often remarked. At the 
head, then, of such troops, the furious tyrant and general enemy 
of mankind, Antichrist, carries ravage and desolation through 
the land, burns the cities, reduces the strongest fortresses with- 
out difficulty, and levels them to the ground. He will seem to 
imitate the proud and haughty king of Assyria, Nabuchodo- 
nosor, who may be well deemed a figure of him. That 
monarch said to his general, Holofernes : " Go out against all 
the kingdoms of the west, and against them especially that 
despised my commandment. Thy eye shall not spare any 
kingdom, and all the strong cities thou shalt bring under my 
yoke." Judith ii. 5, 6. In consequence of these orders, Holo- 
fernes " went forth, he and all the army, with the chariots, 
and horsemen, and archers, who covered the face of the earth, 
like locusts. — He came to the great mountains of Ange, which 
are on the left of Cilicia: and he went up to all their castles, 
and took all the strong places. — And he passed over the 
Euphrates, he came into Mesopotamia; and he forced all the 

stately cities that were there. And he carried away all the 

children of Madian, and stripped them of all their riches, and 
all that resisted him he slew with the edge of the sword. And 
after these things he went down into the plains of Damascus 
in the days of the harvest, and he set all the corn on fire, and 
he caused all the trees and the vineyards to be cut down." 
Judith ii. 11, &c. And though the inhabitants of the cities 
went out to meet him and make their submission, " they could 
not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart : for he both 
destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves. For Nabu- 
chodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy all the 
gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those 
nations, which could be brought under him by the power of 
Holofernes." Judith iii. 1 1, 12, 13. Here is an imperfect pic- 
ture cf the proceedings of Antichrist, who, according to the 
accounts above given of Joe! and St. John, will far surpass, 
in rage and barbarity, Holofernes or his master Nabuchodo- 
nosor. Antichrist will have a more powerful and pernicious 
instrument in hand, namely, gunpowder, which he will make 
so much use of, according to St. John, "as to kill the third 
part of men by it." Apoc. ix. 18. And all obstacles seem 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 265 

to vanish before him, as being easily removed or surmounted 
by the devils that attend him: for the dragon, Satan, gave him 
his own strength, or his own armies. Apoc. xiii. 2. All this 
is permitted by Almighty God in his wrath for the execution 
of his judgments, as he formerly permitted the northern bar- 
barous nations in like manner to assist Rome for a while with 
their armies. " For God hath given into their hearts," said 
St. John, " to do that which pleaseth him : that they gave their 
kingdom to the beast till the words of God be fulfilled." Apoc, 
xvii. 17. The iniquities of mankind having filled up their 
measure at this period, Antichrist is the rod of punishment 
in the hand of God ; who therefore allows him an extraordi- 
nary destructive power, such as had never been permitted to 
fall into the hands of any mortal before. " And power was 
given him," says St. John, " over every tribe, and people, and 
tongue, and nation." Apoc. xiii. 7. Thus then the beast be- 
comes irresistible, and with the feet of a bear and the mouth 
of a lion, as St. John says, Apoc. xiii. 2, or with claws and 
teeth of iron, according to Daniel, vii. 9, the beast devours the 
whole earth, treads it down, and breaks it in pieces, Dan. vii. 
23. Thus we see how fully he answers the character given 
him in the fourth seal. " Behold a pale horse," says St. John, 
44 and he that sat on him, his name was Death, and hell follow- 
ed him. And power was given to him over the four parts of 
the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and 
with the beasts of the earth." Apoc. vi. 8. And thus he be- 
comes universal monarch.* 

Both the ancients and moderns speak of Antichrist as domi- 
neering over the whole world. Lactantius says, 44 he will tor- 
ment the world with an insupportable tyranny." Inst. I. 7. *. 
16. Sulpitius Severus tells us he had heard from St. Martin, 
that "the whole earth and all mankind will be reduced under 
the power of Antichrist." Dial. 2. de vita S. Mart. St. Jerom 
says, that " Antichrist will reign over the whole world." In 
Dan. ix. St. Austin and St. Hyppolytus, martyr, hold the same 
sentiment. 

Among the moderns, Bellarmine, Cornelius a Lapide, and 
others, speak the same language. 

Several of the preceding articles, relating to the character 
and actions of Antichrist, being also intimated to us with other 

* If the prince of darkness be allowed an insight into futurity by means 
of the prophecic9, he may have suggested to the Turkish monarchs the 
prophetic motto which they inscribe upon their military standard, *' Dontt 
totum impkat orbem. till it fiU9 the whole earth." 
28 



266 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

particulars in a passage of the prophet Daniel, which has been 
applied to Antichrist by St. Jerom, Theodoret, and other an- 
cient and modern interpreters, we shall here give it. 

Chap. xi. 36. " The king," says Daniel, " shall do accord- 
ing to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify 
himself against every God : and he shall speak great things 
against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be 
accomplished. For the determination is made." Here is 
Antichrist's power of doing according to his will ; here is his 
arrogance, his luciferian pride, his rebellion and his blasphe- 
mies against the Almighty, just as St. John and St. Paul have 
described them. And it is added, that he shall prosper, till 
the wrath be accomplished, that is, till the Almighty has exe- 
cuted, by him, his judgments upon mankind for their wicked- 
ness. For the determination is made ; for such is the decree 
of heaven. 

V. 37. " And he shall make no account of the God of his 
fathers, 7 ' continues Daniel, " and he shall follow the lust of 
women, and he shall not regard any gods : for he shall rise 
up against all things." Antichrist is here represented as an 
atheist, and addicted to lust. Daniel proceeds, 

V. 38. " But he shall worship the god Maozim in his 
place : and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall wor- 
ship with gold and silver, and precious stones, and things of 
great price." Antichrist, though he was said before not to 
regard any gods, yet he worships in his place, or privately, 
the god Maozim, that is, the god of fortresses ; for so the 
word Maozim is translated by Theodotion and Aquila, by the 
authors of the Syriac and Arabic versions, and by Vatable and 
others. It would seem that Antichrist, on his astonishing 
success in reducing the strong holds and fortified places, be- 

{rond that of any conqueror the world ever saw, will acknow- 
edge it, but not publicly, to be owing to the aid and operation 
of Satan, who attends him, and whom on that account he will 
privately worship with gold and silver, and precious stones, 
&c. under the name of the god of fortresses. That such will 
be his success over fortresses, we have seen in the prophecy 
of Joel. — Lastly, 

V. 39. " And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a 
strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall in- 
crease glory, and shall give them power over many, and shall 
divide them the land for nothing." He will fortify his god 
Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, 
that is, with another infernal spirit, from whom he acknow- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 267 

ledges to have received particular assistance; probably that 
spirit which attends his false prophet enables him to perform 
such extraordinary feats and wonders for promoting Anti- 
christ's credit and the worship paid to him. And he shall 
increase glory, and shall give them power over many, and 
shall divide them the land for nothing. Here the Antichrist- 
ian monarch distributes his favours to his partisans. To some 
he gives glory, that is, title and pre-eminence; on others he 
confers power over many, that is, kingdoms, or governments 
of provinces, towns, &c. ; and to others he divides the land 
for nothing, giving them large possessions or estates, gratis. 
Thus, in quality of universal monarch, he disposes of the 
earth, of dignities, and riches, at his pleasure. As a pre- 
lude to his future power of Antichrist, may not the devil have 
suggested to the Turkish emperors the title, which they 
now assume by anticipation, of "Bestowers of all earthly 
crowns?" — See note, p. 239. 

But now we must return to consider, that such is the gene- 
ral and dreadful calamity of the times we are describing, that, 
while Antichrist spreads abroad a flood of desolation and 
slaughter by his army, and thus becomes the instrument of 
punishment to the wicked, he is to be understood to exercise 
at the same time a most sanguinary persecution against the 
servants of God. He had begun it with putting to death 
144,000 converted Jews. But now the four winds are let 
loose, which we saw held by the angels, Apoc. vii. 1, and they 
carry with their innate velocity the rage of persecution into 
every corner of the globe. Hell and earth combine ; the de- 
vil, Antichrist, and the false prophet, confederate together to 
extirpate Christianity. They set all engines at work, to 
abolish all worship of God, and to establish idolatry. St. 
Austin, speaking of this dreadful period, says: " This perse- 
cution will be the last, it will happen towards the approach 
of the last judgment, and it will fall upon the Church in 
every part of the world ; that is, the whole city of Christ will 
be persecuted by the whole city of the devil, as far as both 
are extended upon the earth. 5 ' De. Civ. liv. 20. e. 11. The 
barbarous tortures employed in the primitive persecutions, 
are revived, and new ones more cruel invented. The racks, 
torches, gridirons, fire, and other instruments of torment, are 
reproduced. The Christians are dragged before the statue of 
Antichrist, which if they refuse to adore, certain death is 
their punishment, Apoc. xiii. 15. We are shocked in read- 
ing the account of the barbarities used by Nero, Domitian, 



268 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Dioclesian, &c. against the Christians, but these will be much 
exceeded by the cruelties of this last persecution. Some of 
those Roman emperors, for their inexpressible violence against 
religion, were' thought by a part of the Christians to be Anti- 
christ ; but in the time we are speaking of, the Christians will 
experience the rage of the real Antichrist, to which nothing 
in the preceding ages will have been found equal. He is 
permitted to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, 
as St. John informs us, Apoc. xiii. 7. He is now in his full 
career of power, and crushes the saints of the Most High, as 
Daniel forewarned us, vii. 25. This ferocious monster, as in 
his war he seemed to imitate the cruel tyrant Nabuchodono- 
sor ; so in his hatred to religion he resembles the impious 
Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, who by the Christian 
writers has been always marked out as the figure of him. 
That prince was an avowed enemy to the worship of God, 
and exercised a most horrible persecution upon the Jews, 
inasmuch that, having taken the city of Jerusalem by force 
of arms, he commanded the soldiers to kill, and not to spare 
any that came in their way, and to go up into the houses 
to slay. 

" Thus there was a slaughter of young and old, a destruc- 
tion of women and children, and killing of virgins and infants. 

" And there were slain in the space of three whole days four 
score thousand, forty thousand were made prisoners, and as 
many sold. 

" And when Antiochus had taken away out of the temple 
a thousand and eight hundred talents, he went back in all 
haste to Antioch, thinking, through pride, that he might now 
make the land navigable, and the sea passable on foot : such 
was the haughtiness of his mind." 2 Mach. v. 

Antiochus, though retired out of the country, did not abate 
in his enmity to the Jews. For he sent Apollonius with an 
army of twenty-two thousand men, who made another dread- 
ful slaughter of the people in Jerusalem. And, 

a Not long after," continues the sacred writer, u the king 
sent a certain old man of Antioch, to compel the Jews to de- 
part from the laws of their fathers and of God : and to defile 
the temple that was in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of 
Jupiter Olympius. 

" And there went out a decree — to oblige them to sacrifice, 
(to the idol of Jupiter Olympius,) and whosoever would not 
conform themselves to the ways of the heathens should be 
put to death." 2 Mach. vi. Let these actions of Antiochus 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 269 

against the Jews be looked upon as a faint draught of those 
violences which Antichrist will exercise upon the Christians. 

But on account of the weakness of human nature, and to 
moderate our terror at the sight of such an unexampled per- 
secution, our Saviour himself has also been pleased to give 
us previous notice of it. " For there shall be then great 
tribulation," says he, " such as hath not been from the begin- 
ning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless 
those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved ; for 
the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened." Matth. 
xxiv. 21, 22. — Happily, amidst this frightful prospect, there 
shines a ray of comfort. These extreme difficulties and rigor- 
ous trials, this war and slaughter, which, if continued, would 
sweep away the whole race of mankind, our Saviour informs 
us, shall be shortened, that is, contracted to the compass of 
three years and a half, for the sake of the elect, or, out of re- 
gard for his faithful and beloved servants, in the same manner 
as formerly Almighty God offered to spare the wicked city of 
Sodom, in case ten just men could be found in it. When 
mankind are brought to so severe a test, what wonder if, in 
an age of infidelity and irreligion, numbers give up their faith 
in Christ, and go over to the enemy, the beast, and adore him 
as a god ? And such, we learn from St. John, will be unhap- 
pily the case. " And all that dwell upon the earth, adored 
him, whose names are not written in the book of life." Apoc. 
xiii. 8. 

But besides what w r e have seen concerning this persecution, 
as the Almighty has judged extraordinary admonitions neces- 
sary for us in proportion to the rigour of the trial, he has 
vouchsafed to impart to us a further account of it by his pro- 
phet Daniel, xii. 1. "At that time," says this prophet, " shall 
Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the child- 
ren of thy people : and a time shall come such as never was 
from the time that nations began even until that time. And 
at that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be 
found written in the book." Here the angel tells Daniel, that 
at the time of the terrible persecution of Antichrist, the arch- 
angel Michael, who is the patron of the Christian Church, as 
he was of the Jewish, will rise up to the succour of the Christ- 
ians, and fight against the powers of hell for them, in the 
same manner as we saw he did in the first persecutions under 
the Roman emperors, Apoc. xii. 7 ; that the persecution will 
also be such as never was from the time that nations began 
even until that time ; and that those only shall be saved who 
23* 



270 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

shall be found written in the book of life, as St. John lias just 
told us; which indicates, that few will stand the trial and gain 
the crown of martyrdom, in comparison to the number of those 
who will give up the cause. — Then Daniel asked, 

V. 6. " How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ? 

V. 7. " And I heard," says he, " the man, that was clothed 
in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, when he had 
lifted up his right hand, and his left hand to heaven, and had 
sworn by Him who liveth for ever, that it should be unto a 
time, and times, and half a time," 

Here, then, the answer is given in the most solemn man- 
ner, and God called to witness, (which shows the importance 
of the thing,) that this dreadful period will last for a time, and 
times, and half a time, or three years and a half. That by 
the expression of a time, the prophet means a year, appears 
from another passage, where the same prophet, speaking of 
the sentence the Almighty had passed upon Nabuchodonosor, 
he says: "They shall cast thee out from among men, and 
thy dwelling shall be with cattle and with wild beasts, and 
thou shalt eat grass as an ox, and shall be w r et with the dew 
of heaven : and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou 
know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, 
and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Dan. iv. 22. The 
seven times here fixed for the duration of that proud king's 
punishment are acknowledged by all interpreters to mean 
seven years. The same period of three years and a half, as 
we have before observed, is given to the persecution by St. 
John, when he says : " And the holy city they shall tread un- 
der foot two and forty months." Apoc. xi. 2. Here it is ex- 
pressed in months, and again in the same manner: u and 
power was given to him (Antichrist) to do two and forty 
months." Apoc. xiii. 5. We likewise see the same period 
expressed in days for the duration of Henoch's and Elias's 
preaching, which may be naturally supposed to equal the time 
of the Church's oppression : " And I will give unto my two 
witnesses ; and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred 
and sixty dav*." Apoc. xi. 3, In fine, Daniel, speaking of 
the Church's sufferings at this time, says: "from the time 
when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the 
abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a 
thousand two hundred and ninety days," xii. 1 1. Upon which 
St. Jerom writes thus : — " Therefore from the time that the 
continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and that Antichrist, 
being master of the world, shall prohibit the worship of God, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 271 

to the time of his destruction, there will be three years and a 
half, that is, 1290 days." In Dan. xii. There can then be 
no real doubt, that the time of Antichrist's persecution is con- 
fined to three years and a half, or 1260 days, and not extended 
to 1260 years, as some moderns have pretended, with a view 
of calumniating the Catholic Church. For, though in some 
particular places of the scriptures, a day may be found to de- 
note a year, or a month to denote a month of years, that is, 
thirty years, or a week to signify a week of years, or seven 
years ; yet there is no instance of a period of time mentioned 
in scripture under the three denominations of years, months, 
and days, that is not to be taken in its natural sense. Besides, 
the nature and circumstances of the case, as appears from the 
preceding history, evince the same ; and in this sense it has 
been understood by the fathers of the Church. " That the 
reign of Antichrist,' 5 says St. Chrysostom, " will last three 
years and six months, the scripture in several places testifies, 
but particularly the Apocalypse of St. John." Horn. 49. in 
Matt. 24. — See also St. Irenceus adv. Har. I. 5. c. 30. St. Cy- 
%il, Catech. 25. S. Hyppol. de consum, sacnli, St. Austin de 
civ. I. 20. c. 25. St. Jerom, Theodoret, and others. 

But to resume the instructions given to Daniel concerning 
this interesting time. 

Chap. xii. 7. "And when the scattering," continues he, 
11 of the band of the holy people shall be accomplished, all 
these things shall be finished." That is, these severe trials 
and calamities will be- put an end to, after that the Christians 
shall have been scattered for an appointed time, by flying into 
deserts and caverns, as formerly, for shelter from the face of 
persecution. But in the mean time, 

V. 10. "Many shall be chosen, and made white, and shall 
be tried as fire." The Christians will be tried, and made 
white or purified, as silver in the fire : such will be the seve- 
rity of the persecution. Conformably to Daniel speaks also 
the prophet Zachary : " And there shall be in all the earth, 
saith the Lord, two parts in it shall be scattered, and shall 
perish : but the third part shall be left therein. And I will 
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as 
silver is refined ; and I will try them, as gold is tried," xiiL 
8, 9. This persecution will be distinguished, as we observed 
before, by seven particular scenes more shocking than the 
rest ; that are intimated by the seven thunders, which St. John 
heard speak, but was not permitted to write what they said, 
Apoc. x. 3, 4. — Daniel proceeds, 



272 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 10. "And the wicked shall deal wickedly, and none of 
the wicked shall understand, but the learned shall under- 
stand." The wicked therefore will make no advantage of the 
times, but will continue to be wicked, through hardress of 
heart; nor will they understand, through their own wilful 
blindness, the meaning of those scourges and trials sent upon 
mankind : whereas the learned, who are truly virtuous and 
instructed in these prophecies, will understand the reason of 
the divine judgments, and will turn them to their own profit, 
and to the gaining of an immortal crown. 

Notwithstanding the dreadful aspect, under which appears 
Antichrist's persecution according to the preceding account, 
we should not however be dejected or dismayed. Confidence 
in the mercies and providence of* God should allay our fears 
and support our fortitude. That all bountiful Being, in his 
severest judgments, never forgets mercy ; and when he sends 
trials, he furnishes assistance proportioned to the exigencies. 
We have already seen that the archangel Michael will come, 
by the order of God, to the defence of the Christians, and 
will check the exorbitant power of Satan. Besides, we are 
assured that boisterous storm will not last beyond three years 
and a half. But the principal support in these extreme dis- 
tresses will be, the abundant graces infused by the Almighty 
into the hearts of the faithful, which will inspire them with 
the most heroic fortitude and invincible constancy. These 
dispositions will also be nourished and animated by the inces- 
sant preaching of the ministers of God, who will be enabled 
to enforce their exhortations with many shining miracles. 
Among these apostolic labourers, Henoch and Elias will sig- 
nalize their zeal. By such means not only the faithful will 
be supported, but many conversions made. The Church there- 
fore at this period, though in appearance so much oppressed, 
will shine more glorious than in any former age, by the num- 
ber of Christian champions, who will not fear to make open 
profession of their faith, will baffle by their invincible fortitude 
all Antichrist's arts and torments, and will soar in triumph to 
heaven with the crown of martyrdom. 

It would seem that as the Christians will be fully instructed 
in the prophecies relating to the time, some of them, perhaps 
under their torments, will admonish Antichrist of his impend- 
ing fate; in a similar manner as the above-mentioned king 
Antiochus was forewarned, by three of the seven Machabees 
whom he put to death, of the divine vengeance that would 
soon overtake him. The fifth of them, in his tortures, said to 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 273 

Antiochus : " Whereas thou hast power among men, though 
thou art corruptible, thou dost what thou wilt: but think not 
that our nation is forsaken by God. But stay patiently a 
while, and thou shalt see his great power, in what manner he 
will torment thee and thy seed." 2 Mach. vii. 16, 17. Anti- 
christ raging with fury at hearing from the expiring Christ- 
ians the supreme decree which dooms him with all his men 
to be slain by Jesus Christ and his celestial army of saints, 
he resolves upon the most daring and most impious scheme, 
that ever entered the heart of man, and which, by the concur- 
rence of Satan and his false prophet, he puts in execution. 

Chap. xvi. 13. "And I saw," says St. John, "from the 
mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and 
from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like 
frogs. 

V. 14. "For they are the spirits of devils working signs, 
and they go forth unto the kings of the whole earth* to gather 
them to battle against the great day of the Almighty God." 
The dragon or Satan, the beast or Antichrist, and the false 
prophet, send forth, each of them, an unclean spirit or devil. 
These they depute to all the kings and potentates, to all the 
great and little states of the earth, to gather them to battle 
against the great day of the Almighty God, that is, to engage 
them to assemble their troops and join Antichrist, who has 
determined to encounter with the omnipotent God, by whom 
they will on that great day be crushed and utterly destroyed. 
What audacious temerity, surely, the advice of Satan, to dare 
challenge the Almighty to battle ! But what wonder that those 
proud angels who had rebelled against their God in heaven, 
should now excite mankind to a similar impiety ? These three 
ambassadors, spirits of devils, conceal themselves under human 
shapes, and, like frogs, which are amphibious, proceed both 
by land and sea to every state on the continents and in the 
islands, and by their power of working signs or wonders, im- 
pose upon the princes, and prevail with them to embark in the 
mad design of their great master Antichrist. 

The earth was now reeking every where with the blood of 
Christian victims. The persecution raged with the utmost 
violence, and daily swept away multitudes. The pastors es- 
pecially are picked out for slaughter, being more obnoxious on 
account of their zeal, in opposing Antichrist, in animating the 
Christians, and fortifying them under their conflicts. And this 

♦ In the Greek, " the kings of the earth and of the whole inhabited 
world." 



274 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

is exhibited to us with strong colours by the prophet Jeremy: 
"Howl, ye shepherds," says he, "and cry: and sprinkle 
yourselves with ashes, ye leaders of the flock: for the days 
of your slaughter and dispersion are accomplished, and you 
shall fall like precious vessels. And the shepherds shall have 
no way to flee, nor the leaders of the flock to save themselves, 5 * 
xxv. 34, 35. But this persecution was to be distinguished in 
a particular manner by the martyrdom of the two great mes- 
sengers of Christ, his two witnesses, Henoch and Elias. Their 
Saviour and master had assigned them 1260 days, or three 
years and a half, to prophecy or to perform the function of 
his special ministers ; during which time he screened them 
from all attempts of Antichrist and other enemies. But that 
period being now elapsed, he withdraws that special protection 
from them, and requires that they shall finish their work by 
sealing it with their blood. He therefore delivers them over 
into the power of Antichrist. 

Chap. xi. 7. " And when they (the two witnesses) shall 
have finished their testimony," says St. John, "the beast, that 
ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and 
shall overcome them and kill them." Henoch and Elias then 
having finished their testimony, or time appointed them to 
give testimony to Christ by their preaching, they are to be 
put to death by order of Antichrist, who is impelled to it by 
Satan, the beast that ascendeth out of the abyss, or bottom- 
less pit. 

V. 8. " And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great 
city, which is called, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where 
their Lord also was crucified." Their dead bodies lie exposed 
in the streets of the great city, which is Jerusalem, as appears 
by what is added, where their Lord was crucified ; and our 
Saviour had said: " it cannot be that a prophet perish out of 
Jerusalem." Luke xiii. 33. Jerusalem is styled, spiritually or 
mystically, Sodom and Egypt : Sodom, because, as that city was 
burned by fire from heaven for its iniquities, so was Jerusalem 
doomed by heaven to be burned by the Romans in consequence 
of its crucifying its Lord. Jerusalem is also styled Egypt, in 
allusion to the persecutions the Jews suffered under the Pha- 
raohs in Egypt, and which they will suffer in a more severe 
manner at Jerusalem under Antichrist. 

V. 9. " And they of the tribes, and peoples, and tongues, 
and nations, shall see their bodies for three days and a half: 
and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres. 

V. 10. "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 275 

over them, and make merry : and shall send gifts one to an- 
other, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt 
upon the earth. For three days and a half the bodies of He- 
noch and Elias will remain exposed to the sight of an infinite 
multitude of people from all nations of the earth, who will be 
then in Jerusalem : nor will they suffer the bodies to be buried, 
for the hatred they will have conceived to the two holy pro- 
phets. Those that dwell on the earth, or the bad sort of peo- 
ple, will every where rejoice at their death, and will send 
presents to congratulate one another on being freed from such 
importunate preachers, and from the dreadful effects of their 
miraculous powers. But, 

V. 11. "And after three days and a half," continues St. 
John, " the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they 
stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw 
them. 

V. 12. " And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying 
to them : come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a 
cloud ; and their enemies saw them." Here we see the Al- 
mighty hand raising the two dead heroes to life ; and they are 
called to the reward of their labours, a happy immortality ; 
their enemies seeing them with astonishment mount into hea- 
ven. In fine, 

V. 13. "And at that hour there w r as made a great earth- 
quake, a^d the tenth part of the city fell ; and there were 
slain in the earthquakes names of men seven thousand : and 
the rest were cast into fear, and gave glory to the God of 
heaven." At the time that the two resuscitated martyrs will 
ascend to heaven, an earthquake will happen, which will throw 
down a tenth part of the city of Jerusalem, and destroy seven 
thousand of Antichrist's adherents, who deserve no more than 
the mere name of men. But those that remain will be struck 
with terror, will acknowledge the hand of the Almighty in 
this dreadful event, and, deserting the wicked party, will be 
converted to God. Such will be the glorious triumph of He- 
noch and Elias. It will happen some time before the close 
of the persecution; because the period of their ministry is 
the same in length with that of the persecution, viz. three 
years and a half, and they had employed some share of their 
time in converting the Jews before the persecution commenced. 

Whether some nations of Africa will revolt from the do- 
minion of the Antichristian tyrant, or whatever else will be 
the provocation, it seems that he will himself also carry his 
arms into that country. This appears from a passage of the 



276 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

prophet Daniel, which St. Jerom and some other ancient in- 
terpreters have so understood. 

Chap. xi. 40. " And at the time prefixed," says Daniel, 
"the king of the south (the king of Egypt) shall fight against 
him, and the king of the north (Antichrist) shall come against 
him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with 
a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall 
destroy, and pass through, 

V. 41. "And he shall enter into the glorious land, and 
many shall fall : and these only shall be saved out of his 
hand, Edom and Moab, and the principality of the children of 
Ammon. 

V. 42. " And he shall lay his hand upon the lands : and 
the land of Egypt shall not escape. 

V. 43. "And he shall have power over the treasures of 
gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and 
he shall pass through Lybia and Ethiopia." During these 
exploits. 

V. 44. " And tidings out of the east, and out of the north 
shall trouble him : and he shall come with a great multitude 
to destroy and slay many." Antichrist will be alarmed with 
tidings out of the east and out of the north, probably of na- 
tions revolting against him, as the sixth age is full of such 
confusion, according to that of our Saviour : " Nation shall 
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 1 ' Matt, 
xxiv. 7. The exasperated tyrant will therefore leave Africa, 
and proceed with his prodigious army into Asia, the provinces 
of which lie to the east and north of Egypt, and there he will 
destroy and slay many. He is yet in the full gale of pros- 
perity, and therefore will bear down all before him. Among 
his present Asiatic expeditions, it seems he will vent his rage 
a second time against Jerusalem. Provoked, perhaps, that 
such a number of his partisans had perished in the earth- 
quake which happened at the triumph of Henoch and Elias, 
and that the rest had deserted him to become the servants of 
God, he* will lay siege to Jerusalem, and take it, as we learn 
from the prophet Zachary. 

Chap. xiv. 1. "Behold the days of the Lord shall come, 
and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee. 

V. 2. " And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to bat- 
tle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, 
and the women shall be defiled: and half of the city shall 
go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be 

• Or one of his generals. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 277 

taken away out of the city." On this occasion the prophet 
informs us that some Jews will be found in Antichrist's army ; 
for he says, v. 14, "And even Juda shall fight against Jeru- 
salem." 

Antichrist thus goes on, regaling himself with the destruc- 
tion and havoc he makes every where, and drenching himself 
with the blood of martyrs. But, notwithstanding all the 
miseries of war, famine, pestilence, &c. that at this period like 
a torrent poured in upon mankind, notwithstanding the un- 
paralleled tyranny of the furious beast, notwithstanding that 
these excessive calamities are known to proceed from the 
avenging justice of an angry God; still, who would believe 
it ! the w T icked remain incorrigible, and those that have basely 
sunk into the abomination of idolatry, take not warning to re- 
Irieve themselves, but continue hardened in their iniquity. For 
thus speaks St. John, 

Chap. ix. 20. "And the rest of the men, who were not slain 
by these plagues, did not do penance from the works of their 
hands, that they should not adore devils, and idols of gold and 
silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see, 
nor hear, nor walk. 

Y. 21. " Neither did they penance from their murders, nor 
from their sorceries, nor from their fornications, nor from their 
thefts." 

Antichrist having, by the strength of his armies and by the 
assistance of the infernal associates, borne down all opposition, 
we may now view him raised up to the pinnacle of human glo- 
ry, to the summit of power. He reigns the greatest monarch 
the world ever saw, and a short period of time has carried him 
through all his conquests, and placed him upon a throne that 
commands the whole earth. He has prevailed upon or com- 
pelled a great part of mankind to adore him as a god, and of 
those that refused he has sacrificed an infinite number to his 
rage and jealousy. But, unhappy being ! now approaches the 
period which the Supreme Being, the Almighty, has fixed to 
his dominion. The three years and a half allowed him to 
tyrannize over mankind, are now expiring. And it had been 
pronounced : "judgment shall sit, that his powder may be taken 
away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end." 
Dan. vii. 26. Intoxicated however with pride and power, and 
stimulated by Satan, he pursues his former resolution to suffer 
no rival, but to contend for superiority with the Sovereign of 
heaven, contemning what he had heard from the Christians, 
that all power shall be wrested from him by Christ, and him- 
24 



278 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

self laid in the dust. In this view he proposes to cope with 
Christ and all his heavenly attendants, by a proportionable 
army assembled from the whole earth by the three evil spirits 
that had been sent, as we have seen, for that purpose. His 
thoughts are now wholly bent upon preparations for this daring 
encounter. He therefore drops the persecution, and ceases 
the war. — And now the second wo is past, that is, the perse- 
cution and war of Antichrist : and behold the third wo, or day 
of judgment, will come quickly, Apoc. xi. 1 4. Here the pro- 
phet Daniel pronounces : " Blessed is he that waiteth, and 
cometh unto a thousand three hundred thirty-five days," xxii. 
12. He had said in the preceding verse : " from the time, 
when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away," and the 
abomination unto desolation be set up, " there shall be a thou- 
sand two hundred ninety days." These 1290 days, which 
are dated from the time of Antichrist setting himself up for 
God and forbidding all Christian worship, now expire with 
the close of his persecution ; and that number being taken 
from 1335, there remain 45 days from the close of his perse- 
cution to the day of his destruction: and therefore Daniel 
pronounces him blessed who lives to see that day. This space 
of 45 days Antichrist employs in collecting together all his 
armies. 

We may on our sides employ a share of this time in taking 
a view of the great body of martyrs, the glorious victims of 
this persecution. To separate the good from the bad members, 
Christ has subjected his Church to the severest trial she ever 
underwent, and streams of holy blood have been flowing to 
appease the divine anger irritated against mankind for the ex- 
cess of their wickedness. St. John thus exhibits to us the 
sight he was favoured with of that blessed company, after they 
were crowned. 

Chap. vii. 9. " After this I saw a great multitude, which 
no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, 
and tongues : standing before the throne, and in sight of the 
Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands." 
A numberless multitude appears to St. John, consisting of 
people of all nations from the four parts of the earth, clothed 
in white robes in token of their present bliss, and with palms 
in their hands, the known emblems of victory. Jn this attire 
they are presented before the throne, and the Lamb. 

V. 10. " And they cried with a loud voice, saying : salva- 
tion to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb." 
They break forth into loud acclamations, saying : " Salvation 



KISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 279 

(or victory) to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to 
the Lamb," victory and triumph to the Almighty and to our 
Saviour over their enemies. 

V. 11. M And all the angels stood round about the throne, 
and the ancients, and the four living creatures : and they fell 
down before the throne upon their faces, and adored God. 

V. 12. "Saying: Amen. Benediction, and glory, and wis- 
dom, and thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to 
our God for ever and ever. Amen." The angels here join 
in the profoundest homage to Almighty God. They acknow- 
ledge and praise his providential dispensations to his Church 
on earth, with the seven same expressive terms, except one 
which were applied to the Lamb. Apoc. v. 12. 

These terms of acclamation to the Almighty are: Benedic- 
tion or praise for the immortal bliss he imparts to his saints: 
Glory, that is reflected upon him for his bountiful admonitions 
to mankind, conveyed by extraordinary signs and threaten- 
ing prodigies in the heavens and in the earth : Wisdom, in 
raising up kingdoms and demolishing others according to the 
wise determination of his justice : Thanksgiving, for his pro- 
tection of the Church against the power of heresy and schism: 
Honour, which he receives, from the glorious conflicts and 
victory of his martyrs : Power, which he has so fully mani- 
fested in subduing the world by the word of his gospel : and 
Strength, which he exhibits in his terrible scourges upon the 
wicked part of his people. St. John proceeds, 
,V. 13. "And one of the ancients answered, and said to 
me : these that are clothed in white robes, who are they ? and 
whence came they ? 

V. 1 4. " And I said to him, My Lord, thou knowest. And 
he said to me : these are they who are come out of great* 
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made 
them white in the blood of the Lamb." St. John not know- 
ing in particular what that holy troop was, is here informed 
that they came from the great tribulation, that is, from the 
great persecution of Antichrist, and that they have washed 
their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb : they have washed them by martyrdom, and they have 
made them white by entering into glory, both which favours 
were purchased to them by the blood of the Lamb. 

V. 15. u Therefore they are before the throne of God, and 
they serve him day and night in his temple : and he, that 

♦ In the Greek, " the great tribulation.'* 



280 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

sitteth on the throne, shall dwell over them." The martyrs 
are placed in the presence of their God, to whom they offer 
constant homage and adoration: and he will dwell over them, 
by infusing the joy of beatitude into their souls, and being 
their liberal Lord and gracious governor for ever. Lastly, 

V. 16. " They shall no more hunger and thirst, neither 
shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat. 

V. 17. " For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, 
shall rule* them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the 
waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes." Their afflictions and hardships ar^ now all over. 
They are now promised to be no more subject to the tor- 
ments or sufferings they have undergone, either from hunger 
or thirst, or from the sun or any heat falling upon them, that 
is, from any sort of fire, natural or artificial ; many of them 
having probably been famished to death, others burned, and 
others shot. On the contrary, their bodies after the general 
resurrection will enjoy a most pure and perpetual feast, in 
being fed by the Lamb and refreshed by the most pleasant 
living waters, in such manner as is suitable to their glorified 
state. Before, St. John saic ; they are before the throne of 
God, &c. to indicate the happiness of their souls immediately 
after their passage to the other life : But here he says : they 
shall no more hunger and thirst, &c. to denote the future 
period after the general resurrection, when their bodies which 
were associated in the hardships, will likewise enjoy their 
share of beatitude. Furthermore, one may here observe tfye 
suppression of the word " and,' 5 which is so constantly re- 
peated through the Apocalypse. In verse the 15th was ex- 
pressed the beatitude of the soul, and in verse the 16th that of 
the body: the disparity of these two beatitudes could not well 
admit of the conjunctive particle and, while the terms of soul 
and body were not expressed. — And God will wipe away 
their tears of sorrow : by filling them with the abundance of 
the sweetest joy and most perfect happiness for all eternity. 

On the expiration of the forty-five days above-mentioned, 
Antichrist having collected together all the forces, assembled 
by the three evil spirits who " had gone forth unto the king 
of the whole earth to gather them to battle against the great 
day of the Almighty God," Apoc. xvi. 14, he encamps them 
in the valley of Josaphat, between Jerusalem and Mount Oli- 
vet, and pitches his own tent on that mountain. He had 

* In the Greek, " shall feed them." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 281 

probably been forewarned by the Christians, that this would 
be the theatre of his destruction, and therefore he chooses it in 
defiance of heaven. That this will be really the place, we 
seem to learn, first, from St. John, who, after the words just 
above cited, adds : " And he shall gather them together, into 
a place, which in Hebrew is called Armagedon." Apoc. xvi. 
16. The word Armagedon is interpreted the mountain of 
fruits, which may indicate the mountain of Olives. The same 
is pointed out by the prophet Daniel, who 3peaks thus : 
44 And he shall fix his tabernacle Apadno between the seas, 
upon a glorious and holy mountain ; and he shall come even 
to the top thereof, and none shall help him," xi. 45. Anti- 
christ will fix his tabernacle Apadno, that is, his magnificent 
tent, called Apadno, upon a mountain, viz. Mount Olivet, 
which has been made glorious and holy by the Ascension and 
other sacred transactions of our Saviour, and stands between 
the Mediterranean and Dead Seas. There he will arrogantly 
fix his standard, but none will be able to help him against the 
power of the Almighty. 

We have likewise in the prophet Joel, not only express 
mention of the same place of encampment, but also a remark- 
able description of the assembling of this army and its im- 
pending fate. 

Chap. iii. 1. " For behold," says the Lord, 44 in these days 
and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Judea 
and Jerusalem. 

V. 2. 44 1 will gather together all nations, and will bring 
them down into the valley of Josaphat."* The Almighty then 
says that, soon after he shall have brought back the Jews 
from their captivity, an event we have before related, he will 
collect all nations into the valley of Josaphat, the place in- 
sinuated by St. John and Daniel. — The Almighty continues 
to speak, 

V. 2. 44 And I will plead with them there for my people 
and my inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among 
the nations, and have parted my land. 

V. 3. 44 And they have cast lots unto my people: and the 
boy they have put in stews, and the girl they have sold for 
wine that they might drink," &c. &c. The Almighty 
will there plead with them or reprove them for the injuries 
they have done to his people the Christians, and to his inherit- 
ance the Israelites, during the tyranny of the Antichristian 

* Josaphat signifies the judgment of the Lord. 



282 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

power. He proceeds to enumerate several of those injuries, 
which he declares he will retaliate upon them. After which 
he continues, 

V. 9. " Proclaim ye this among the nations : prepare war, 
raise up the strong : let them come ; let all the men of war 
come up. 

V. 10. " Cut your ploughshares into swords, and your 
spades into spears. Let the weak say : I am strong. 

V. 11. "Break forth, and come, all ye nations from round 
about, and gather yourselves together." Here the Almighty 
challenges them to battle ; after which he pronounces, 

V. 12. " There will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to 
fall down." There will the Lord, the Almighty Son of God, 
crush thee, O Antichrist, and all thy strong men. Hitherto 
God had spoken to them altogether, challenging them to bat- 
tle; but here he suddenly changes his discourse, and address- 
es solely their commander, Antichrist: there will the Lord 
cause all thy strong ones to fall. Joel goes on, 

V. 13. " Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, 
and go down, for the press is full, the fat runs over; for their 
wickedness is multiplied." The harvest and vintage are 
ready; and therefore people are called to reap the corn, 
and to gather and tread the grapes. An allusion, showing 
that the wickedness of these nations is so multiplied, that they 
are ripe for the slaughter which is going to be made of 
them. — Joel continues, 

V. 14. " Nations, nations in the valley of destruction: for 
the day of the Lord is near in the valley of destruction. 

V. 15. " The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars 
have withdrawn their shining. 

V. 16. " And the Lord shall roar out of Sion, and utter his 
voice from Jerusalem : and the heavens and the earth shall be 
moved: and the Lord shall be the hope of his people, and the 
strength of the children of Israel." Numberless nations, 
immense armies, now appear gathered together in the valley 
of Josaphat, the valley of destruction, all which the Lord has 
determined quickly to destroy. 

And when he shall come down from heaven to execute his 
judgments upon these armies, the sun and moon shall be 
darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, and he 
will pass over Jerusalem with a dreadful noise, that will 
strike them with terror and dread : " the Lord shall roar out 
of Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem." 

To this we may add a sublime, pathetic, and short de- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 283 

scription of the same tremendous scene from the prophet 
Isaiah. 

Chap, xxxiv. 1. " Come near, ye Gentiles, and hear ; and 
hearken, ye people : let the earth hear, and all that is therein ; 
the world, and every thing that comes forth of it. 

V. 2. " For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, 
and his fury upon all their armies : he has killed them and 
delivered them to slaughter. 

V. 3. " Their slain shall be cast out, and out of their car- 
casses shall rise a stink : the mountains shall be melted with 
their blood. 

V. 4. " And all the hosts of the heavens shall pine away, 
and the heavens shall be folded together as a book : and all 
their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falls from the vine, and 
from the fig-tree." Here the Almighty declares in the most 
solemn manner, his indignation is going to fall upon all na- 
tions, and his fury upon their armies, and he will deliver them 
up to slaughter, v. 1, 2. "Such will be soon the fate of Anti- 
christ and his armies. What is added of their slain being 
cast out, and a stench rising from their carcases, &c. v. 3, 
seems to belong to the destruction of Gog and Magog, which 
w r e shall see afterwards. But before these terrible judgments 
happen, " all the host of the heavens shall pine away, v. 4, 
and shall fall down, as the leaf falls from the vine, and from 
the fig-tree : and the heavens shall be folded together as a 
book." These threatening signs in the heavens, which were 
also just above-mentioned in Joel, are here expressed nearly 
in the same terms, as we saw them in the Apocalypse under 
the sixth seal, where we read, " The sun became black as 
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood : and the 
stars from heaven fell upon the earth, as the fig-tree casts its 
green figs when it is shaken by a great wind. And the 
heaven departed as a book folded up." Apoc. vi. 12, 13, 14. 
Isaiah had forewarned us in another place : M The day of the 
Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and high- 
minded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be 
humbled — And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, 
and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord 
alone shall be exalted in that day. — And they shall go into 
the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth from the 
face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his Majesty, 
when he shall rise up to strike the earth," ii. 12, 17, 19. St. 
John speaks in the same tenor under the sixth seal : " The 
kings of the earth," says he, " and the princes — hid them- 



284 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

selves in the dens and in the rocks of mountains: and they 
say to the mountains and the rocks, fall upon us, and hide 
us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from 
the wrath of the Lamb." Apoc, 15, 16. — See the explication 
of the sixth seal. 

Antichrist therefore having seated himself upon Mount 
Olivet, with his armies round him extended over the valley ol 
Josaphat and adjacent plains, he haughtily thinks himselt 
equal to cope with all the powers of heaven. This man ol 
sin, this son of perdition, this enemy of God and men, though 
upon the brink of destruction, persists in his resolution to de 
fend his impious and insolent pretensions. He claims to 
himself the power and honours that belong to the supreme 
Deity, and will permit no other but himself to be thought 
master of the world. He has, for the space of three years 
and a half, exercised the most despotic and cruel tyranny 
over mankind, and now he braves the Almighty himself. 
But, behold ! 

Chap. xix. 11. " And I saw heaven opened," says St. John, 
" and behold a white horse : and he that sat upon him, was 
called faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and 
fight. 

V. 12. " And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his 
head were many diadems, and he had a name written, which 
no man knows but himself. 

V. 13. "And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled 
with blood: and his name is called, The Word of God." 
The heavens open, and St. John sees Jesus Christ, the Son of 
God, descending ; seated on a white horse, in the same man- 
ner as we saw him first set out on his conquests ; which shows 
him to have been all along continuing them : " He went forth 
conquering that he might conquer." Apoc. vi. 2. He is 
known by the peculiar appellations here attributed to him : 
faithful and true, v. 11, faithful in protecting his servants and 
revenging their injuries upon their enemies, and he is ever 
true to his promises. As the father has given all judgment 
to the Son, John v. 22, so the Son with justice doth judge 
and fight, which he is coming to do at present. But what 
eminently distinguishes him, is his name, The Word of 
God, v. 13, which is well understood to belong solely to him : 
but it is so comprehensive in its meaning, that human reason 
cannot fathom it, and no man knows it but himself, v. 12. 
His eyes were as a flame of fire, indicating his anger; and 
on his head were many diadems, the mark of his power over 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 285 

all those nations he is now coming to punish : and as this will 
be done by a great slaughter of all Antichrist's armies, he 
therefore, appears clothed with a garment sprinkled with 
biood. — St. John proceeds, 

V. 14. "And the armies that are in heaven followed him 
on white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean." The 
celestial armies of saints follow the son of God, as their cap- 
tain and commander ■ they are all like him, mounted on white 
horses, and clothed in fine linen white and clean, a symbol 
of their merit and glory. 

V. 15. "And out of his mouth' proceeded a sharp two- 
edged sword.: that with it he may strike the nations. And 
he shall rule them with a rod of iron : and he treadeth the 
wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the 
Almighty. 

V. 16. "And he hath on his garment and on his thigh 
written, King of kings and Lord of lords." A sharp two- 
edged sword is the weapon Christ will use to strike the na- 
tions, which are assembled with Antichrist against him. 
The sword is said to proceed from his mouth, because it exe- 
cutes his command. The son of God is the sovereign mas- 
ter and judge of all mankind, and therefore he rules his re- 
bellious subjects with a rod of iron, by scourging them in 
this life, and subjecting them to everlasting punishments in 
the next. And he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness 
of the wrath of God the Almighty, that is, he is the minis- 
tor of the Almighty's wrath, and executes his terrible judg- 
ments upon the wicked. In fine, the son of God is entitled 
to all his power, because he is King of kings and Lord of 
lords ; which name is written on his garment, that it may be 
visible to every eye ; and on his thigh, to show that he is pos- 
sessed of strength to vindicate his sovereign title, the thigh 
being commonly put for the emblem of strength in man. 
Some of the attributes here mentioned are also ascribed to 
Christ by the prophet Isaiah : " Why then is thy apparel 
red," says he, "and thy garments like theirs that tread in 
the wine-press ? I have trodden the wine- press alone, and 
of the Gentiles there is not a man with me : I have trampled 
on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in 
my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, 
and I have stained all my apparel," lxiii. 2, 3. — St. John pro- 
ceeds, 

* V. 17. " And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he 
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that did fly 



286 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 






through the midst of heaven: Come, gather yourselves together 
to the great supper of God.* 

V. 18. " That you may eat the flesh of kings, and "he flesh 
of tribunes, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of 
horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all free- 
men and bondmen, and of little and of great." While Christ, 
the divine hero, is advancing to battle with his celestial army, 
an angel in the sun with a loud voice invites all the birds of 
the air to a most plentiful entertainment which is preparing 
for them ; where they may fill themselves with human flesh 
of all kinds, from that of kings to that of slaves, and with 
the flesh of horses and that of their riders; an expressive pic- 
ture of the immense slaughter that is going to be made. It 
would seem that this bloody scene will terminate in the even- 
ing of the day, as the invitation is given to a supper. — Then, 

V. 19. " And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, 
and their armies gathered together, to make war with him 
that sat upon the horse, and with his army." We have just 
now seen the heavenly captain on horseback at the head of his 
holy troop marching to battle ; and now we see who are the 
enemies he comes to encounter. Here is the beast, or Anti- 
christ, with prodigious armies gathered from all parts of the 
earth, and headed by their kings and princes. Here they 
are met with that satanic design of engaging in battle with 
him who sits upon the horse, the omnipotent Son of God. 
"The kings of the earth," says the royal psalmist, "have 
stood up, and the princes have met together, against the 
Lord, and against his Christ: but thou, O Christ, shall 
break them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Psalm ii. 2, 9. 
No more is man than a potter's vessel, when he contends 
with the Almighty. The decisive moment is come. This 
is the day of the Lord in the valley of destruction. Joel, 
iii. 14. This is the great day of the Almighty God, Apoc. 
xvi. 14, in which he will show to whom belong empire and 
victory. For, 

V. 20. " And the beast was taken," pursues St. John, 
u and with him the false prophet, who wrought signs before 
him, wherewith he seduced them who received the character of 
the beast, and who adored his image. These two were cast 
alive into the pool of fire burning with brimstone." At the 
terrible appearance of Christ descending through the skies 
with his army, his enemies are struck with dread and con- 

* In the Greek, " to the supper of the great God/* 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 287 

sternation ; and by his order the beast Antichrist, is seized 
and made captive, and with him the great impostor, his false 
prophet, who by delusive signs and wonders had seduced such 
numbers to become the beast's votaries. Christ with the 
sole breath of his mouth hurls down Antichrist alive into 
hell-fire, " that wicked man, whom," as St. Paul informs us, 
'* the Lord Jesus shall kill (or exterminate) with the breath 
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his 
coming." 2 Thes. ii. 8. The prophet Isaiah had likewise 
said : " with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked 
man," xi. 4. The false prophet is also precipitated down 
along with his master. Thus will be exterminated that beast, 
Antichrist, the greatest monster of impiety the earth ever 
bore, the declared enemy of Christ, the man of sin, the son 
of perdition, as St. Paul styles him, an idolater, a mock god, 
a more cruel persecutor of the Christians than Nero or Dio- 
clesian. From the pinnacle of arrogance and power he will 
be flung down, and in a moment buried alive in the bottom- 
less pit. " I have seen the wicked man," says the psalmist, 
" highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus. 
And I passed by, and lo he was not : and I sought him, and 
his place was not found." Psalm xxxvi. 35. — Lastly, 

V. 21. " And the rest were slain," continues St. John, " by 
the sword of him that sitteth upon the horse, which pro- 
ceedeth out of his mouth : and all the birds were filled with 
their flesh." Immediately upon the destruction of Antichrist 
and the false prophet, the whole army is slaughtered ; Christ 
commanding his two-edged sword, or giving it to an angel, 
to do the execution. In such a wide field of carnage, the 
birds of the air, which had all been invited to this supper, 
are now filled and sated with the flesh of the dead bodies. " If 
I shall whet my sword as the lightning," said the Lord, 
" and my hand take hold of judgment : I will render ven- 
geance to my enemies, and repay them that hate me. My 
sword shall devour flesh. Praise his people, ye nations, for 
he will revenge the blood of his servants." Deuter. xxxii. 41, 
42, 43. And thus we see executed the sentence, taken 
notice of before, which Christ pronounced at the beginning of 
Antichrist's persecution and war : " He that shall kill by the 
sword, must be killed by the sword." Apoc. xiii. 10. 

Such will be the dreadful vengeance, the almighty Son of 
God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will take upon his 
enemies, and in this conspicuous manner will he vindicate 
his sovereign dominion, and rescue his faithful servants from 



288 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

that intolerable tyranny they have laboured tinder for three 
years and a half. This exploit of the almighty Son of God, 
we see expressed beautifully by his prophet Isaiah : Dixistis 
enim — Idcirco hate dicit Dominus Deus ; delebitur fcedus ves- 
trum, &c. Isaiah xxviii. 15, 18. But we seem to be furnished 
with further interesting circumstances of this memorable day 
by the prophet Zachary, if we understand right his following 
prophecy : 

Chap. xix. 1. "Behold the days of the Lord shall come, 
and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of t'hee. 

V. 2. " And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle, 
and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, and 
the women shall be defiled : and half of the city shall go forth 
into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be taken 
aw T ay out of the city." This siege and taking of Jerusalem 
by a body of Antichrist's troops, we have explained before. — 
Zachary goes on, 

V. 3. " Then the Lord shall go forth, and shall fight against 
those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 

V. 4. " And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount 
of Olives, which is over against Jerusalem towards the east : 
and the mount of Olives shall be divided in the midst thereof 
to the east, and to the west, with a very great opening, and 
half of the mountain shall be separated to the north, and half 
thereof to the south. 

V. 5. " And the Lord my God shall come, and all the 

saints with him." The Lord my God, the almighty Son of 
God, will come, accompanied by all the saints, v. 5, as St. John 
represented him, and he will destroy at once all those nations, 
v. 3, as he destroyed in the day of battle, the Egyptians in 
the Red Sea. Mount Olivet, it is here said, v. 4, shall be split 
in two ; in order perhaps to open a passage to Antichrist and 
his false prophet, at the moment they are cast down alive into 
the infernal pit. Christ will stand upon the mountain : and 
while he is in this posture, the immense heap of slain lying 
in the plains below him, may not his enemies then be truly 
said to be made his footstool? Psalm cix. 1. 

V. 6. " And it shall come to pass in that day," continues 
Zachary, "that there shall be no light, but cold and frost. 

V. 7. " And there shall be one day, which is known to the 
Lord, not day nor night: and in the time of the evening there- 
shall be light." That one day, known to the Lord, is the day 
of vengeance upon Antichrist and his people, which properly 
wl.\ neither be day nor night, the sun, moon, and stars, being 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 289 

obscured and veiled over, as we learned from Joel, saying of 
that day " the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars 
have withdrawn their shining," iii. 15. The light that will 
then illuminate the earth, will be that resplendent brightness 
with which our Saviour will come down to do the execution. 
While the rays of the sun are thus intercepted, no wonder the 
air grows cold and frosty. But in the evening there will be 
light, that is, when the scene is over, and Christ mounted up 
back to heaven, the sun's light will return, viz. in the evening, 
the time indicated also by St. John in the invitation of the birds 
to a supper. 

V. 12. " And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord 
shall strike all nations that have fought against Jerusalem: 
the flesh of every one shall consume away while they stand 
upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their 
holes, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth." 
While Antichrist's armies in the vale of Josaphat are slain 
by the sword, those troops which took Jerusalem in the above- 
mentioned siege, and treated there the servants of God so 
barbarously, will be punished by their flesh melting and con- 
suming away, &c. and thus the people will be preserved from 
any stench of the carcasses. 

V. 16. " And all they that shall be left of all nations that 
came against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to year, to 
adore the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of 
tabernacles. 

V. 17. " And it shall come to pass, that he that shall not 
go up of the families of the land to Jerusalem, to adore the 
King, the Lord of hosts, there shall be no rain upon them." 
Those that join not Antichrist's army, but remain in their 
country, will be ordered to depute a certain number of per- 
sons to go every year to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of 
tabernacles : and if any country neglect this obligatory devo- 
tion, it will be punished by the want of rain. The feast of 
Tabernacles was kept by the Jews in memory of their so- 
journing forty years in the desert, and this place may signify 
the solemn festival, which will be annually observed by the 
Christians at Jerusalem, in memory of their deliverance 
from Antichrist, by the destruction of him and his people in 
and near that city. And as the feast of the tabernacles was 
kept on the fifteenth of the Hebrew month Tizri, which an- 
swers to the moon of our September ; this may indicate that 
the great day of destruction will happen about the autumnal 
oquinox; in which case counting back three years and 
25 



290 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

a half, Antichrist will begin his war and persecution in 
spring. 

Though we have already seen a pretty ample account of 
the fate of Antichrist, we seem however to be presented with 
another beautiful picture of it, illustrated even with some new 
scenes, by the prophet Isaiah. Thus speaks he : 

Chap. xiv. 3. " And it shall come to pass in that day, that 
when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy 
vexation, and from the hard bondage, wherewith thou didst 
serve before. 

V. 4. " Thou shalt take up this parable against the king 
of Babylon, and shalt say : How is the oppressor come to 
nothing, the tribute hath ceased? 

V. 5. * The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the 
rod of the rulers, 

V. 6. " That struck the people in wrath with an incurable 
wound, that brought nations under their fury, that persecuted 
in a cruel manner. 

V. 7. " The whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad and 
hath rejoiced." 

Though this prophecy may in some measure relate to the 
king of ancient Babylon, yet it seems to be principally spo- 
ken of Antichrist, king of the last Babylon, and to be finally 
completed in him. It is usual with prophets to join in the 
same description two objects that have a relation one to the 
other. Here then the Almighty tells his people that, when 
they shall be freed from their labour, vexation, and hard 
bondage under Antichrist, v. 3, they shall address heaven in 
a hymn of praise and thanksgiving, saying : How is the 
oppressor (Antichrist) come to nothing? The Lord hath 
broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers that 
struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that 
brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel 
manner : and now the whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad 
and hath rejoiced, v. 4, 5, 6, 7. 

V. 9. "Hell below," continues the prophet, u was in an 
uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants 
for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from 
their thrones, all the princes of nations. 

V. 1Q. " All shall answer and say to thee : Thou also art 
wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us. 

V. 11. " Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is 
fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and 
worms shall be thy covering." Here we see the reception 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTAN CHURCH. 291 

Antichrist meets with at his arrival in the infernal regions. 
All hell is in an uproar, the princes, the giants or famous war- 
riors whom he had slain, rise up and advance to meet him, 
addressing him with derision: Oh! Thou art also wounded 
then as well as we, thou art at last dealt with as thou dea.t 
with us : Thy pride is brought down to hell, &c. 

V. 12. " How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who 
didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, 
that didst wound the nations ? 

V. 13. u And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend to 
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will 
sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. 

V. 14. "I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I 
will be like the Most High. 

V. 15. " But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into 
the depth of the pit." The princes in hell continue to insult 
Antichrist, saying: How art thou fallen, thou that shone in 
majesty and brightness like Lucifer, the morning star? They 
remind him of his former pride, arrogance, superlative inso- 
lence, his proclaiming himself God, &c, all which they paint 
in lively colours : After which with a contemptuous triumph 
they tell him : But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell 
into the depth of the pit. 

V. 16. " They that shall see thee, shall turn towards thee, 
and behold thee : is this the man that troubled the earth, that 
shook kingdoms. 

V. 17. " That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed 
the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to the prisoners'? 

V. 18. " All the kings of the nations have all of them slept 
in glory, every one in his own house. 

V. 19. " But thou wert cast out of thy grave as an unpro- 
fitable branch defiled, and wrapped up among them that are 
slain by the sword, and are gone down to the bottom of the 
pit as a rotten carcass." 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE SIXTH AGE. 

Notwithstanding the vengeance of God has thus mani- 
fested itself in the total extermination of Antichrist and his 



292 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

armies, his wrath is not yet satisfied, but requires more vic- 
tims to atone for the injury done to his holy worship by the 
establishment of idolatry and for the cruelties exercised upon 
his servants. The Almighty had formerly poured out his 
indignation upon the Roman emperors, many of whom were 
struck, and perished under the visible marks of his judgments. 
But this was not sufficient, he devoted haughty imperial Rome, 
their capital, to destruction, and laid it in ashes. It had parti- 
cipated with its masters in the crime of supporting idolatry, 
and waging war against the saints, and therefore like them 
was to be cut off. In the same manner Constantinople, the 
centre and metropolis of the Antichristian empire, must also 
fall under the weig-ht of the hand of God. This we learn 
from St. John : for thus speaks he, 

Chap. xiv. 8. u And another angel followed, saying, That 
great Babylon is fallen, is fallen :* which made all nations to 
drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." This Ba- 
bylon has been supposed by many interpreters to mean pagan 
Rome, but w T hoever studies the Apocalypse with attention, will 
see the error of that opinion. For St. John gives the destruc- 
tion of heathen Rome in the beginning of the 18th chapter, 
as we have before seen, and in the same terms nearly, not 
entirely, as are used here : and as St. John never repeats the 
same event, this second Babylon must be another city, the 
great city, which has made all nations to drink of the wine of 
her fornication or idolatry. This Babylon therefore can be no 
other than Constantinople, the imperial city of Antichrist, which 
has so readily joined him in admitting idolatry, and so hotly 
concurred to propagate it over the whole earth. Besides, the 
same conclusion follows from observing, that the transactions 
related in this 14th chapter belong to the last period of the 
world. Other proofs will also presently occur. 

But our Christian prophet has not only announced to us in 
general the fall of this last Babylon, but even gives us a spe- 
cial description of its destruction. This is found in the latter 
part of the 18th chapter. St. John, after carrying on his nar 
rative of the fate of old Rome, in the first part of the same 
chapter, proceeds in verse 20th, to invite heaven and the saints 
to rejoice and exult on the occasion. " Rejoice over her," says 
he, " thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets : for 
God has judged your judgment on her." This indicates that 
here concludes his description of the fall of Babylon or pa- 

* In the Greek, " Babylon the great city i3 fallen, is fallen," 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 293 

gan Rome. What follows, belongs therefore to the second 
Babylon or Constantinople, and is related thus : 

Chap, xviii. 21. " And a mighty angel took up a stone, as 
it were a great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying : 
with such violence as this shall Babylon that great city be 
thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." Here then 
Constantinople falls, and the manner of her fall is expressed 
in clear and energetic terms. As a mill-stone thrown with 
violence into the sea sinks to the bottom in a moment, so will 
Constantinople be swallowed up by the sea in an instant, ne- 
ver more to be seen. 

This description cannot, it is evident, belong to Rome, which 
does not stand upon the sea. Besides, ancient Rome after its 
destruction w^as in some degree rebuilt and still subsists, 
whereas this last Babylon after its fate shall be found no more 
at all. 

The prophet goes on, 

V. 22. " And the voice of harpers, and of musicians, and 
of them that play on the pipe and on the trumpet, shall no 
more be heard at all in thee, and no craftsmen of any art 
whatsoever shall be found any more at all in thee, and the 
sound of the mill shall be heard no more at all in thee. 

V. 23. " And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at 
all in thee, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride shall 
be heard no more at all in thee : for thy merchants were the 
great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by 
thy enchantments." Neither music, nor dancing, of which 
the eastern nations are fond, nor other diversions, shall ever 
more be heard or seen in that city, &c. All is profound si- 
lence, and utter desolation. No more vestiges even of that 
great city remaining than of Sodom and Gomorrha, the very 
place buried in the deep. Her crimes had grown to their full 
measure. Her luxury had been excessive, to serve which 
the great men and the princes of the earth had been compelled 
to strip themselves and to furnish her with every thing that 
was valuable. Her voluptuousness was such that she seduced 
all nations by her riches and her pleasures, which, like an 
enchantment, fascinate the minds of men. By these allure- 
ments she had, like ancient Rome, ensnared mankind into her 
vices and idolatry. 

Such is the general view of the state of that imperial city, 
as it will be at the time of her fall. But what completed to 
make her infinitely odious in the sight of God, and to force 
down the divine vengeance upon her, was, 
25 # 



294 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 24. " And in her," says St. John, " was found the blood 
of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the 
earth." In the exultation for the fall of pagan Rome in verse 
20th, the apostles were mentioned, because their blood was 
found there, as having been spilled by her emperors and ma- 
gistrates. This not being the case of the last Babylon or 
Constantinople, in her is found the blood of prophets and of 
saints, of Henoch and Elias, and of an infinite multitude of 
Christian martyrs, cruelly put to death by her emperor, Anti- 
christ, and his magistrates ; blood, which cried to heaven for 
vengeance, and in which he had a share. It is even said that 
in her was found the blood of all that were slain upon the 
earth. All this blood is imputed to the city of Constantinople, 
because she was the capital of Antichrist's empire, which ex- 
tended over the whole earth. In this same sense it was said 
that heathen Rome " was drunk with the blood of the saints, 
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus," Apoc. xvii. 6, 
not only of those who had been put to death within her walls, 
but likewise of all others who had suffered in the extent of 
her dominions through the whole period of the persecutions. 

As the subversion of the Antichristian Babylon, in the pro 
phetic history, follows immediately that of the Roman Baby- 
lon ; in like manner the exultations in heaven for both are 
joined to one another. The jubilation for the fall of pagan 
Rome begins thus : " After these things I heard as it were the 
voice of a great multitude in heaven saying Alleluia," &c. 
Apoc xix. 1. And that for the fall of Constantinople, thus : 
" And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude — say- 
ing, Alleluia," &c. ibid. v. 6. The same mode of speech 
used in both these places, as St. John never repeats the same 
thing, shows that these expressions of jubilation relate to two 
different objects, that is, to the fall of two different Babylons. 
This observation premised, the present exultation is, 

Chap. xix. 6. "And I heard," says St. John, "as it were 
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many wa- 
ters, and as the voice of great thunders, saying, Alleluia: for 
the Lord our God the Almighty hath reigned." St. John 
heard the voice of a great multitude in heaven, of that great 
multitude of martyrs which he had seen standing before the 
throne, and who had come out of the great tribulation, or per- 
secution of Antichrist, Apoc. vii. 9, 14. To these is joined a 
voice, as the voice of many waters, that is, of the angels that 
preside over nations, denoted by waters, which had all before 
groaned under the tyranny of Antichrist : and also another 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 295 

voice, like the voice of great thunders, or of the angel that 
presides over fire, which, as employed in military engines, by 
its explosion resembles thunder; and such thundering fire 
was the instrument Antichrist made use of to kill the third 
part of men, Apoc. ix. 18. All these different personages 
have therefore reason to rejoice on this occasion, and to join 
their voices in singing, Alleluia; for the Lord our God Al- 
mighty hath reigned, has asserted his sovereign power, and 
crushed his enemies. 

The prophet Isaiah, in denouncing the divine wrath upon 
Babylon of Chaldaea, seems also to have annexed the judg- 
ment that is to fall upon the last or Antichristian Babylon. 
The fall of the first is fully described in chapter 13th, and 
what follows in the subsequent chapter must therefore belong 
to another city; which is confirmed by particular circum- 
stances there related. Part of the preamble used by that 
prophet seems also to be referred to the last Babylon. Thus 
speaks he, 

Chap. xiii. 9. " Behold the day of the Lord shall come, 
a cruel day, and fall of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, 
to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof. 

V. 10. " For the stars of heaven, and their brightness, shall 
not display their light : the sun shall be darkened in his 
rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light." These 
signs indicate the last age of the world. 

V. 11. "And I will visit the evils of the world, and 
against the wicked for their iniquity, and I will make the 
pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogance 
of the mighty." 

Then in the next chapter the prophet, after describing the 
character of Antichrist and the divine judgment upon him, 
proceeds to relate the destruction of his Babylon, thus : 

Chap. xiv. 22. " And I will raise up against them, said 
the Lord of hosts : and I will destroy the name of Babylon, 
and the remains, and the bud, and the offspring, saith the 
Lord. 

V. 23. " And I will make it a possession for the ericius* 
and pools of waters, and I will sweep it, and wear it out 
with a besom, saith the Lord of Hosts." The remains of 
Babylon ; the bud of Babylon, perhaps the children in the 
womb ; and the offspring, are all doomed to be utterly extir- 
pated. This did not happen to the Chaldaean Babylon, which 

* A water-bird. 



296 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

was gradually abandoned by its inhabitants ; and will only 
therefore be completed in Babylon, the great city of Anti- 
christ. 

We have now seen the execution of the divine judgments 
upon Antichrist's armies and his great city. But as his ma- 
gistrates and his adherents who are dispersed in all the dif- 
ferent countries of the earth, may be deemed equally guilty 
with those that have perished, it seems to appear that the 
hand of divine vengeance will also reach them. This is an- 
nounced immediately after the sentence passed upon the last 
Babylon, and is as follows, 

Chap. xiv. 9. ? And the third angel followed them, saying 
with a loud voice : if any man shall adore the beast and his 
image, and receive his character in his forehead, or in his 
hand; 

V. 10. " He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of 
God, which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his 
wrath, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the 
sight of the holy angels, and in the sight of the Lamb." 
Those therefore that have adored the beast, or Antichrist, and 
his image, and received his character, or mark, are con- 
demned to drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is 
mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath, that is, 
those who have been guilty of all the three above-named crimes 
they w T ill be slain, in the same manner as Antichrist's army. 
To drink of the wine of the wrath of God, denotes the divine 
punishment on the body or corporeal part of man, as wine 
itself is not a pure substance, but contains gross lees ; and the 
mixture of pure wine in the cup of the wrath of God, in- 
dicates the simultaneous punishment of the soul, which is a 
pure substance, and which on the slaughter of the body is vio- 
lently separated from it. When both these component parts, 
soul and body are reunited at the general judgment, then the 
whole man shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in hell 
in the sight of the holy angels, and in the sight of the Lamb. 
But, 

V. 11. " And the smoke of their torments," proceeds St. 
John, " shall ascend up* for ever and ever : neither have they 
rest day nor night, who hath adored the beast and his image, 
and whosoever receives the character of his name." Here is 
the present fate of the soul, which at the instant of death is 
tormented in hell fire, without intermission or rest : which is 

* In the Greek, " ascends up." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 297 

the sentence pronounced upon all those who have adored the 
beast, &c. whatever may be their death, and whenever it may 
happen. Then St. John adds, 

V. 12. " Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the 
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Here is the 
motive, on which is founded the patience of the true servants 
of God, namely, in bearing with all trials, hardships and per- 
secutions in this life, with the view of avoiding the eternal 
torments, and purchasing the eternal rewards, of the other 
world. 

The preceding dreadful judgment of God on the votaries 
of Antichrist, wherever they be, seems to be also foretold ex- 
plicitly by the prophet Jeremy, as follows : 

Chap. xxv. 15. " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of 
Israel : take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand : and 
thou shalt make all the nations to drink thereof, unto which I 
shall send thee." Expressions similar to what we saw above 
in St. John. 

V. 30. "And thou shalt prophesy unto them all these 
words, and thou shalt say to them : the Lord shall roar from 
on high, and shall utter his voice from his holy habitation : 
roaring he shall roar upon the place of his beauty : the shout 
as it were of them that tread the grapes, shall be given out 
against all the inhabitants of the earth. 

V. 31. " The noise is come to the ends of the earth: for 
the Lord entereth into judgment with the nations : he enter- 
eth into judgment with all flesh, the wicked I have delivered 
up to the sword, saith the Lord. 

V. 32. " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts : behold evil shall 
go forth from nation to nation : and a great whirl-wind shall 
go forth from the ends of the earth. 

V. 33. " And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day 
from one end of the earth even to the other end thereof: they 
shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered up, nor 
buried: they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth." 
Here is the tremendous roaring noise, v. 30, 31, before ta- 
ken notice of from Joel, of Christ coming down from heaven 
to destroy Antichrist and his people. The Lord entereth into 
judgment with all flesh, and delivers the wicked up to the 
sword, v. 31, and the slain of the Lord shall be at that day 
from one end of the earth even to the other end thereof, v. 33. 
Hence it appears, that not only Antichrist's armies, assembled 
in the valley of Josaphat, shall be slain by the sword, but all 
his principal idolatrous abettors shall be cut off in the same 



298 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

manner m every part of the earth. Moreover we are here 
told, they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered 
up, nor buried : they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth. 
The same we also learn from the prophet Isaiah : " And they 
(the people) shall go out," says he, "and see the carcasses of 
the men that have transgressed against me : their worm shall 
not die, and their fire shall not be quenched ; and they shall 
be a loathsome sight to all flesh," lxvi. 24. It may seem 
strange that the inhabitants of Jerusalem should not be an- 
noyed with the stench of such a heap of dead bodies lying so 
near them in the vale of Josaphat ; but the infection is pre- 
vented by the birds devouring the flesh, as St. John told us, 
and leaving the bodies mere skeletons. 

By the destruction of Antichrist, his armies, officers, and 
chief associates, we now see his kingdom dissolved, his power 
totally extinguished, and consequently the Roman empire 
finally put an end to. The prophet Daniel had foretold that 
Christ, or the stone that was cut out of the mountain without 
hands, should break down the statue, the legs and feet of which 
represented the Roman empire. This was executed in part 
by the fall of pagan Rome with its dominion, and by the es- 
tablishment of Christianity upon its ruins. But this prophecy 
seems to receive a further, adequate, and final completion in 
the extermination of Antichrist, the last and greatest of the 
Roman emperors, in the destruction of Constantinople, his 
imperial city, and in the total suppression of the Antichristian 
power. From such a complete victory over its enemies rises 
then the completest triumph of the Christian religion. Such 
appears to be the import of that prophecy, in which Daniel 
speaks thus to Nabuchodonosor : " Thus thou sawest, till a 
stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck 
the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and of clay, 
and broke them in pieces : then was the iron, the clay, the 
brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and 
became like the charTof a summer's threshing floor, and they 
were carried away with the wind : and there was no place 
found for them : but the stone that struck the statue became a 
great mountain, and filled the whole earth," ii. 34, 35. 

Here then we may congratulate ourselves for having seen 
at last an end put to the innumerable evils and miseries, which 
Antichrist brought upon mankind, and which St. John de- 
nominates the second wo, chap. xi. 14. " The second wo," 
says he, " is past : and behold the third wo will come quick- 
ly." The above dismal scene being over, the respite will not 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 299 

be of very long duration ; for behold, the third woe, or day 
of judgment, will come quickly, is not far off 

But now the servants of God seemed at last to be rescued 
from their intolerable slavery, and were much rejoiced at the 
prospect of a happy peace. They saw their persecutors had 
all perished under the hand of the Almighty, they saw idola- 
try crushed, and that religion had regained its liberty. This 
bright gleam of happiness must however suffer some obscu- 
rity yet for a little while, before it shines forth in all its lus- 
tre. An unforeseen storm arises, which alarms them, espe- 
cially those that inhabit Judea and Jerusalem. Satan, foiled 
in his prior designs before he could bring them to perfection, 
retires at seeing the divine vengeance coming to break on the 
head of Antichrist, and resolves to try another effort, if not 
effectual for recovering his power, at least to annoy and dis- 
tress those he hates, the Christians. He therefore sets for- 
ward to raise up new enemies. This we learn from St. John, 
who says, 

Chap. xx. 7. " And when the thousand years shall be 
finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go 
forth, and seduce the nations which are over the four quarters 
of the earth, Gog, and Magog, and shall gather them together 
to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." We 
have already seen how Satan stirred up the nations which are 
over the four quarters of the earth, and what desolation and 
havoc they made. He now instigates another great prince, 
named Gog, to rise with his people, who are called Magog, 
and with other nations, and to proceed against the people of 
God. The omission here of the usual conjunctive particle 
and before the name of Gog, may be one among other indica- 
tions, that this is a different army from that of the nations just 
before mentioned, and will come at a different time. But of 
this prince and his army and their march, we have a more 
explicit account in the prophet Ezechiel; who gives it thus : 

Chap, xxxviii. 1. "And the word of the Lord came to me, 
saying : 

V. 2. " Son of man, set thyself against Gog, the land of 
Magog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal : and prophecy 
of him, 

V. 3. "And say unto him: Thus saith the Lord God. 
Behold I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mo- 
soch and Thubal. 

V. 4. " And I will turn thee about, and I will put a bit in 
thy jaws : and I will bring thee forth, and all thy army, hor- 



300 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 






ses and horsemen all clothed with coats of mail, a great mul- 
titude, armed with spears and shields and swords. 

V. 5. " The Persians, Ethiopians, and Lybians with them, 
all with shields and helmets. * 

V. 6. " Gomer, and all his bands, the house of Thogorma, 
from the northern parts, and all his strength and many peo- 
ple with thee. 

V. 7. " Prepare and make thyself ready, and all thy multi- 
tude that is assembled about thee : and be thou commander 
over them." Here then the Almighty challenges to battle 
the prince Gog with all his great multitude, or as St. John 
says, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea, consist- 
ing of the people of Magog, that is, as commonly understood, 
of a people of ancient Scythia, or what is now called Great 
Tartary, and of other Asiatic provinces under the names of 
Mosoch, Thubal, Gomer, and Thogorma. He will be also 
attended by the Persians, Ethiopians, and Lybians. — The 
Almighty continues to speak, 

V. 8. "And after many days thou shalt be visited: at the 
end of years thou shalt come to the land that is returned from 
the sword, and is gathered out of many nations, to the mount 
ains of Israel which have been continually waste : but it hath 
been brought forth out of the nations, and they shall all of 
them dwell securely in it." Gog therefore will come at the 
end of years, or in the last period of time, to the land that is 
returned from the sword, and is gathered out of many nations, 
&c. that is, he will come to invade Judaea, from whence the 
Jews had been formerly expelled by the Roman sword, but 
are now returned and become Christians, and are settled in 
their land, in the possession of which they will be secured 
by the divine hand against all attempts. 

V. 9. " And thou, Gog, shalt go up and come like a storm, 
and like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and 
many people with thee. 

V. 10. u Thus saith the Lord God: In that day projects 
shall enter into thy heart, and thou shalt conceive a mis- 
chievous design. 

V. 11. "And thou shalt say: I will go up to the land 
which is without a wall, I will come to them that are at rest, 
and dwell securely: all these dwell without a wall, they 
have no bars nor gates." This refers to what St. John relates 
of Gog and his army: " and they came upon the breadth of the 
earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, the good 
Christians, and the beloved city of Jerusalem." Apoc. xx. 8. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 301 

It also refers to the future prosperous state of that city as 
foretold by the prophet Zachary : " Jerusalem shall be inhabit- 
ed without walls," says he, " by reason of the multitude of 
men, and of the beasts in the midst thereof," ii. 4. — Ezechiel 
proceeds to give the reason of Gog's invading Judaea. 

V. 11. " To take spoils and lay hold on the prey, to lay 
thy hand upon them that had been wasted, and afterwards 
restored, and upon the people that is gathered together out of 
the nations, which hath begun to possess and to dwell in the 
midst of the earth." Here is the intent of Gog's coming, viz. 
to plunder the converted Jews and Christians that are settled 
in Judaea, and who are come into possession of the immense 
spoils of Antichrist's army, as we learn from the prophet 
Zachary, who speaks thus of the abundance of those spoils: 
" And the riches of all nations round about shall be gathered 
together, gold, and silver, and garments in great abundance," 
xiv. 14. 

V. 16. "And thou, Gog, shalt come," continues Ezechiel, 
" upon my people of Israel like a cloud, to cover the earth. 
Thou shalt be in the latter days, and I will bring thee upon 
my land : that the nations may know me, when I shall be 
sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. 

V. 17. " Thus saith the Lord God: Thou then art he, of 
whom I have spoken in the days of old, by my servants, the 
prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times 
that I would bring thee upon them:" namely by the prophets 
Isaiah and Joel, as we shall see presently, besides Ezechiel. 

V. 18. " And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day 
of the coming of Gog upon the land of Israel, saith the Lord 
Gog, that my indignation shall come up in my wrath. 

V. 19. " And I have spoken in my zeal, and in the fire of 
my anger, that in that day there shall be a great commotion 
in the land of Israel. 

V. 20. " So that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the 
air, and the beasts of the field, and every creeping thing that 
creeps upon the ground, and all men that are on the face of 
the earth, shall be moved at my presence : and the mountains 
shall be thrown down, and the hedges shall fall, and every 
wall shall fall to the ground." Here is mention of different 
alarming signs that will happen about that time, some of which 
are similar to the following, related by St. John, under the 
sixth seal : " every mountain, and the islands were moved out 
of their places : and the kings of the earth, and the princes, 
and the tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every 
26 



302 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

bondman, and every freedman, hid themselves in the dens and 
in the rocks of mountains." Apoc. vi. 14, 15. 

V. 21. " And I will call in," continues Ezechiel, " the sword 
against him in all my mountains, saith the Lord God; every 
man's sword shall be pointed against Jiis brother. 

V. 22. " And I will judge him with pestilence, and with 
blood, and with violent rain, and vast hailstones : I will rain 
fire and brimstone upon him and upon his army, and upon 
the many nations that are with him." Here we see in what 
manner the Almighty will destroy Gog with all his army in 
the mountains of Judaea, by turning every man's sword against 
his brother, by pestilence, by violent rain, and vast hailstones ; 
and in fine, he will rain fire and brimstone upon them. To 
the same the royal psalmist seems to allude, saying : " The 
Lord shall rain snares upon sinners : fire and brimstone and 
storms of wind shall be the portion of their cup." Psalm x. 7. 
St. John also gives us their destruction in few words, but to 
the same purpose : " And there came down fire from God 
out of heaven," says he, " and devoured them." Apoc. xv. 9. 
And thus is fulfilled what God had promised by his prophet 
Zachary : " I will be to Jerusalem, saith the Lord, a wall of 
fire round about," ii. 5. The Almighty again, speaking by 
his prophet Isaiah, after proclaiming his future vengeance 
upon the Anti-christian Babylon, proceeds to announce also 
his judgments upon Gog in the same terrible language, styling 
that prince the Assyrian, on account of his reigning over the 
country formerly called Assyria : " So shall it fall out," says 
God, " that I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and upon 
my mountains tread him under foot : and his yoke shall be 
taken away from them, and his burthen shall be taken ofF their 
shoulders." Isaiah xv. 25. And again : " And the Lord 
shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall show 
the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and the 
flame of devouring fire ; he shall crush to pieces with whirl- 
wind and hailstones. For at the voice of the Lord the Assy- 
rian shall fear being struck with the rod." Isa. xxx. 30, 31. 

Ezechiel having described the fate of Gog by anticipation, is 
told to return to the historical account of him: 

Chap, xxxix. 1. " And thou, Son of man, prophecy against 
Gog, and say : thus saith the Lord God : behold I come 
against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal. 

V. 2. " And I will turn thee round, and will lead thee out, 
and will make thee go up from the northern parts, and will 
bring thee upon the mountains of Israel. 



&ISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN C&URCH. 303 

V. 3. " And I will break thy bow in thy left hand, and I 
will cause thy arrows to fall oat of thy right hand. 

V. 4. " Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, 
and all thy bands, and thy nations that are with thee : I have 
given thee to the wild beasts, to the birds, and to every fowl, 
and to the beasts of the earth to be devoured. 

V. 5. " Thou shalt fall upon the face of the field : for I 
have spoken it, saith the Lord God." With this account 
coincides what the Almighty promises the Jews by the pro- 
phet Joel : " I will remove far off from you," says he, " the 
northern enemy : and I will drive him into a land unpassable, 
and desert, with his face towards the east sea, and his hinder 
part towards the utmost sea : and his stink shall ascend, and 
his rottenness shall go tip, because he has done proudly," ii. 
20. Here the northern enemy points out Gog, who, accord- 
ing to Ezechiel, comes from the northern parts, v. 2. He is 
driven into a land unpassable, that is, into the mountains of 
Israel, v. 2, where he is placed between the east or Dead sea, 
and the utmost or Mediterranean sea. In these mountains, 
after that fire from heaven has slain him and his people, their 
carcasses shall lie to infect the air with stench and rottenness. 
— The Lord continues to speak by Ezechiel : 

V. 6. " And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them 
that dwell confidently in the islands : and they shall know 
that I am the Lord." Does not this perhaps mean, that at 
the time that Gog perishes, fire will also be sent to make de- 
struction in Magog, his own country, and in the islands that 
are confederated with him ? 

V. 7. " And I will make my holy name known in the midst 
of my people Israel ; and my holy name shall be profaned 
no more : and the Gentiles shall know that I am the Lord, 
the holy one of Israel. 

V. 8. " Behold it cometh, and it is done, saith the Lord 
God : this is the day whereof I have spoken. 

Y. 9. " And the inhabitants shall go forth of the cities of 
Israel, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, the shields, 
and the spears, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, 
and the pikes: and they shall burn them with fire seven 
years. 

V. 10. " And they shall not bring wood out of the coun- 
tries, nor cut down out of the forests : for they shall burn the 
weapons with fire, and shall make a prey of them to whom 
they had been a prey, and they shall rob those that robbed 
them, saith the Lord God. 



304 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHuRCI*. 

V. 11. " And it shall come to pass in that day that I will 
give Gog a noted place for a sepulchre in Israel : the valley of 
the passengers on the east of the sea, which shall cause as* 
tonishment in them that pass by : and there shall they bury 
Gog, and all his multitude, and it shall be called the valley 
of the multitude of Gog. 

V. 12. " And the house of Israel shall bury them for seven 
months to cleanse the land. 

V. 13. " And the people of the land shall bury him, and it 
shall be unto them a noted day, wherein I was glorified, saith 
the Lord God. 

V. 14. u And they shall appoint men to go continually 
about the land, to bury and to seek out them that were re- 
maining upon the face of the earth, that they may cleanse it : 
and after seven months they -shall begin to seek. 

V. 15. " And they shall go about passing through the land: 
and when they shall see the bone of a man, they shall set up 
a sign by it, till the buriers bury it in the valley of the multi- 
tude of Gog. 

V. 16. " And the name of the city shall be Amona,* and 
they shall cleanse the land. 

V. 17. " And thou, O son of man, saith the Lord God, say 
to every fowl, and to all the birds, and to all the beasts of the 
field : Assemble yourselves, make haste, come together from 
every side to my victim, which I slay for you, a great victim 
upon the mountains of Israel; to eat flesh, and drink blood. 

V. 18. "You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and you 
shall drink the blood of the princes of the earth : of rams, 
and of lambs, and of he-goats, and bullocks, and of all that 
are well fed and fat. 

V. 19. " And you shall eat the fat till you be full, and shall 
drink blood till you be drunk, of the victim which I shall slay 
for you. 

V. 20. " And you shall be filled at my table with horses, 
and mighty horsemen, and all the men of war, saith the Lord 
God. 

V. 21. "And I will set my glory among the nations: and 
all nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and 
my hand that I have laid upon them." 

Thus is Gog and his whole army exterminated. They are 
not allowed to reach Jerusalem, but are stopped by the divine 
hand at a distance in the mountains of Judaea, where by fire 

* Multitude. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHtJRCH. 305 

from heaven and other terrible judgments, they all perish. 
And thus ends that impious enterprise of Gog, of which we 
have been reading in Ezechiel a full history rather than a 
prophecy. 

Satan is here again defeated ; nor is he now allowed to 
make further attempts. He has done immense mischief, by 
seducing mankind into idolatry, and raising up a most hor- 
rible persecution against the faithful servants of God. He 
has by his agents desolated countries, and destroyed a prodi- 
gious multitude of the human race: "for he was a murderer 
from the beginning." John viii. 44. But, though he has act- 
ed by the suggestion of his own malice and hatred against 
God and man, yet it has not been done without the Almighty's 
permission* and it all serves the unfathomable purposes of di- 
vine wisdom, But now the period of the releasement of Satan 
is elapsed, in consequence of which St. John informs us : 

Chap. xx. 9. " And the devil who seduced them, was cast 
into the pool of fire and brimstone, 

V. 10. " Where* both the beast and the false prophet shall 
be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Here the 
prince of the infernal regions is cast down again into his pri- 
son, there to be closed up ; and is plunged into the lake of 
hell-fire, there to be tormented for evermore with Antichrist 
and the false prophet. One may suppose that the greatest 
part of his hellish crew are banished along with him, to under- 
go the same fate. Some determinate number of them may 
perhaps be permitted to remain upon earth to tempt mankind : 
as seemed to be the case when Satan was bound up in the 
abyss after the persecutions of the first Christian ages : but 
the power of these fiends will be circumscribed within much 
narrower bounds than it was before. 

One cannot but here take notice, that our incomparable 
prophet opens to us a particular piece of history, which we 
were little acquainted with, namely, that of Satan, the prince of 
the apostate angels. In chapter xii. we see him falling down 
from heaven with his proud associates. We see his charac- 
ter described, and among other names there given him, he 
is styled the old serpent, that is, the very serpent which de- 
ceived Eve, and by her seduction ruined all mankind. After 
having done that mischief, he proceeded by crafty insinuation 
to work upon mankind, and prevailed upon the greatest part 

* In the Greek, " where the beast and false prophet are. And they 
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." 

26 # 



306 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

of them to abandon the worship of their Creator, and to sub- 
stitute idolatry in its place ; that is, in reality, the worship of 
Satan himself and thus he seduced the whole world. At the 
rise of Christianity, we see him exerting his utmost efforts to 
crush it in its birth : for which purpose he stimulated the Ro- 
man emperors, and others, to oppose with all their might the 
propagation of the Christian religion. Christ, with his supe- 
rior power, frustrated all these attempts; and expelled Satan 
from the face of the earth, and confined him in the infernal 
dungeon, Apoc. ch. xx. ; where he is to remain for an appoint- 
ed period of time, after the expiration of which he will be re- 
leased for a short while. His employment will then be to re- 
establish idolatry, and to persecute the Christian religion. 
Antichrist will be his great instrument for these purposes. 
But after the extermination of that son of perdition, and the 
destruction of Gog, Satan himself will then be remanded back 
to his infernal prison, never more to go forth from it.— Now 
to resume the thread of our history : 

The expulsion of Satan from the earth, who was the author 
of idolatry, and the extermination of Antichrist, who was its 
supporter, are followed by the extirpation of idolatry itself. 
For such seems to be the language of the prophets : " The 
loftiness of men shall be bowed down," says Isaiah, "and the 
haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall 
be exalted in that day. And idols shall be utterly destroyed," 
ii. 17, 18. Thus also speaks the prophet Sophonias: " The 
Lord shall be terrible upon them, and shall consume all the 
gods of the earth," ii. 11. In like manner we see the same 
work of the divine hand announced to us by the prophet Za- 
chary : " And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord 
of Hosts, that I will destroy the names of idols out of the earth, 
and they shall be remembered no more," xiii. 2. It is fit the 
offspring should follow the parent, and that idolatry should 
disappear with Satan. 

And now we seem to be arrived at the glorious epocha of 
the triumph of the Church over all her enemies. The tyrants, 
that domineered over her, are crushed ; the boisterous winds 
of persecution are ceased; and the anger of God, before in- 
flamed by the excessive wickedness of mankind, is now ap- 
peased and gives way to mercy. Idolatry is vanished, and 
the Cross of Christ is the sole standard that is acknowledged 
and resorted to. Christ has suppressed all adverse powers, 
both earthly and infernal, and now extends his dominion from 
one extremity of the earth to the other. People and kings 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 307 

equally bow down to receive his commands, and join in pro- 
fessing their submission to his Church, as we learn from 
Daniel : " And judgment shall sit,'' says he, " that the king- 
dom and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the 
whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the 
Most High : whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and 
all kings shall serve him and shall obey him," vii. 26, 27. 
" He shall rule from sea to sea," says the psalmist speaking 
of Christ, " and from the river unto the ends of the earth — 
And all the kings of the earth shall adore him ; all nations 
shall serve him. Psalm lxx. 8, 11. 

The prophet Zachary acquaints us of the same, thus : 
" And the Lord shall be king over all the earth : in that day 
there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one," xiv. 9 : 
his name shall be one, or there shall be but one religion over 
the whole earth. These are the halcyon days of the Christ- 
ian people, during which the Almighty pours forth the abun- 
dance of his spiritual and temporal blessings. To the storms 
of persecution and war succeed the calm of peace and the 
sunshine of joy and prosperity. And to this period seems to 
belong the following admonition : 

Apoc. xiv. 13. " And I heard," says St. John, " a voice from 
heaven, saying to me : Write, blessed are the dead who die 
in the Lord. For henceforth now, saith the spirit, that they 
may rest from their labours: for their works follow them." 
Or rather, according to the Greek text : " Blessed are the 
dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Certainly, saith 
the spirit, that they may rest from their labours : but their 
works follow them." Those are here pronounced blessed, 
who from henceforth, that is, from the time of the extermina- 
tion of Antichrist and all external enemies, or who, during 
the time of peace, having no expectations of the crown of mar- 
tyrdom, nevertheless live in the constant practice of virtue, 
and so merit to die in the favour of their Lord. The Spirit 
or Holy Ghost confirms the sentence of their happiness, not 
only because at the moment of their departure their hard la- 
bours and penitential exercises cease, but their souls are ad- 
mitted to a glorious immortality, the recompense of their good 
works. 

Such is the extraordinary happiness of this period of time, 
that, as in the days of the birth of Christianity, so now the 
supernatural gifts of the Holy Ghost descend plentifully upon 
the zealous Christians. " And it shall come to pass after this," 
says the Lord by Joel, " that I will pour out my spirit upon 




308 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

all flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy : 
your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall 
see visions. Moreover, upon my servants and handmaids in 
those days I will pour forth my Spirit. And I will show 
wonders in heaven, and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapour 
of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the 
moon into blood ; before the great and dreadful day of the 
Lord does come," ii. 28, &c. While the bounties of God 
flow in a full stream upon mankind, we see nevertheless he 
thinks fit to send, at times, warnings of the approaching great 
and dreadful day of the Lord, by signs, and wonders in hea- 
ven and earth, agreeably to what we read in the Apocalypse 
under the sixth seal. The all-bountiful God desires, that all 
should watch and be prepared for the great day of judgment, 
which may be supposed not to be far distant at that time. 
For the same reason Christ, after "the battle of the great day 
of the Almighty God," Apoc. xvi. 14, immediately proclaims; 
" Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and 
keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his 
shame." Blessed is the man, that keepeth solicitously his 
garments of virtue and good works, lest at Christ's coming 
he be found naked and exposed to shame and condemnation. 

If we turn our eyes on another side, we see a beautiful pic- 
ture, exhibited to us by the prophets, of the temporal prosperi- 
ty which will be enjoyed at this period of time by the Jews, 
that is, the Jews changed into Christians, under whose name 
may be comprehended the whole body of the Christian peo- 
ple. Among the many passages relating to this subject, we 
shall recite a few. 

Joel, after describing the great slaughter in the vale of Josa- 
phat, thus continues, 

Chap. iii. 17. " And you shall know that I am the Lord 
your God, dwelling in Sion, my holy mountain: and Jerusa- 
lem shall be holy, and strangers shall pass through it no more. 

V. 18. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
mountains shall drop down sweetness, and the hills shall flow 
with milk: and waters shall flow through all the rivers of 
Juda : and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the 
Lord, and shall water the torrent of thorns. 

V. 19. " Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a wilder- 
ness destroyed : because they have done unjustly against the 
children of Juda, and have shed innocent blood in their land. 

V. 20. " And Judaea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jeru- 
salem to generation and generation." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 309 

Ezechiel speaks in the following manner : 

Chap, xxxvii. 21. "And thou shalt say to them: thus 
saith the Lord God: behold, I will take the children of Is- 
rael from the midst of the nations whither they are gone : 
and I will gather them on every side, and will bring them to 
their own land. 

V. 24. u And my servant David* shall be king over them, 
and they shall have one shepherd, they shall walk in my 
judgments, and shall keep my commandments, and shall do 
them. 

V. 25. " And they shall dwell in the land which I gave to 
my servant Jacob, wherein your fathers dwelt, and they shall 
dwell in it, they and their children, and their children's child- 
ren, for ever : and David my servant shall be their prince for 
ever. 

V. 26. " And I will make a covenant of peace with them; 
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them : and I will es- 
tablish them, and will multiply them, and will set my sanc- 
tuary in the midst of them for ever," &c. 

The same prophet, after relating the destruction of Gog, 
pursues thus, or rather the Almighty by his mouth : 

Chap, xxxix. 22. " And the house of Israel shall know 
that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. — 

V. 26. " And they shall hear their confusion, and all the 
transgressions wherewith they have transgressed against me, 
when they shall dwell in their land securely, fearing no man. — 

V. 28. " And they shall know that I am the Lord their 
God, because I caused them to be carried away among the 
nations : and I have gathered them together unto their own 
land, and have not left any of them there, 

V. 29. " And I will hide my face no more from them, for 
I have poured out my spirit upon all the house of Israel, 
saith the Lord God." 

The prophet Amos gives us also a pleasing description of 
the same prosperity. 

Chap. ix. 13. " Behold the days come, saith the Lord, 
when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader 
of the grapes of him that soweth seed : and the mountains shall 
drop sweetness, and every hill shall be tilled. 

V. 14. " And I will bring back the captivity of my people 
Israel : and they shall build the abandoned cities, and inhabit 
them : and they shall plant vineyards, and shall drink the 

* Christ, the Messiah. 



310 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

wine of them ; and shall make gardens, and eat the fruits of 
them. And I will plant them upon their own land : and I 
will no more pluck them out of their land, which I have given 
them, saith the Lord thy God." Such is this remarkable aBra 
of peace, prosperity, and spiritual blessings. 

One may naturally suppose that the Christians, at their 
emerging from the severe trials they had been subjected to, 
were uncommonly full of zeal and religious fervour : and so 
it seems to be intimated by the above-cited passages out of the 
prophets. But the human mind from its native inconstancy 
soon forgets the greatest troubles, when they are passed. 
Prosperity also is a charm generally productive of inattention 
and neglect, and contributes much to revive in man his natu- 
ral propensity to licentiousness: Such will be the case of this 
last period of time, in which mankind will gradually relax in 
their fervour, and degenerate in their morals. Our Saviour 
has told us to beware of the last day, to watch, and be ready 
to appear before him at the bar of judgment : " Watch ye," 
says he, " because ye know not what hour your Lord will 
come. Be you ready, because at what hour ye know not, 
the Son of man will come." Matt. xxiv. 42, 44. And again 
he speaks in the Apocalypse : — " Behold I come as a thief," 
xvi. 15. St. Peter also gives us the same warning: " The 
day of the Lord will come as a thief." 2 Pet. iii. 10. But 
these admonitions will by degrees lose their influence, and be 
forgotten, the human passions will recover their power, and 
the pleasures of the world will become again the common 
pursuit of men; as we learn from our Saviour's own words; 
" As in days of Noe," says he, " so shall also the coming of 
the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood, they 
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, 
even till that in which Noe entered into the ark. And they 
knew not till the flood came, and took them all away : so also 
shall the coming of the Son of man be." Matt, xxiv. 37, 38, 
39. Thus then the generality of mankind having degene- 
rated into a state of forgetfulness of God, employed now in 
indulging themselves in sensual gratifications, unmindful of 
all the ominous alarming signs that had preceded, and the 
repeated admonitions given them, Behold ! The seventh seal 
is opened. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 311 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE SEVENTH AGE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH. 

The seventh Seal is opened. 

Apoc. viii. 1. " And when he (the Lamb) had opened the 
seventh seal, there was silence in heaven, as it were for half 
an hour." The Lamb having opened the seventh seal, there 
follows a silence in heaven for a while, in appearance about 
half an hour. During this time the Almighty thinks fit to 
disclose to the whole heavenly court of angels and saints, his 
eternal and inscrutable decrees respecting mankind and the 
existence of this world.* The heavenly auditory attend in 
silence and with profound respect, while he graciously un- 
folds to them the whole system of economy, by which he has 
governed the world ever since its creation, and the whole 
course of his great and merciful dispensations to man. The 
Almighty is willing to display before them the immense and 
superabundant store of blessings, that have flowed from the 
inexhaustible source of his paternal affection upon mankind, 
ever since the first moment of their existence. He shows 
that his tenderness and bounty towards mankind have been 
without measure, and that if a great number of them perish, 
their perdition is owing to themselves. He then makes known 
his intention of putting an immediate stop to the whole human 
race, and bringing them to judgment ; he signifies, that the 
time he had fixed for the existence of the world is now ex- 
pired, and he is now going to put an end to it.f Upon which 

The seventh Trumpet sounds. 

Chap. xi. 15. "And the seventh angel sounded the trum- 
pet: and there were great voices in heaven, saying: the 

* This he does, not in words, but by secret interior communication, such 
as is suitable to the nature of spirits. 

t That such are, in part, the divine intimations on this occasion, may be 
collected from the applauses of the heavenly choirs expressed in the fol- 
lowing trumpet. As upon the opening of the seventh seal the period of the 
world finishes, it is just that at that time the wise and bountiful economy 
of Christ through the whole government of his Church should be ac- 
knowledged. For that reason benediction or praise was solemnly offered 
to the Lamb. Apoc. v. 12. Seepage 43. 



312 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, 
and he shall reign for ever and ever. Amen. 

V. 16. " And the four and twenty ancients, who sit on 
their seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces, and adored 
God, 

V. 17. "Saying: We give thee thanks, O Lord God Al- 
mighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come : be- 
cause thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and thou 
hast reigned, 

V. 18. "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is 
come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, 
and that thou shouldst render reward to thy servants the 
prophets and the saints, and to them that fear thy name, little 
and great, and shouldst destroy them who have corrupted* 
the earth. 

V. 19. "And the temple of God was opened in Heaven: 
and the ark of his Testament was seen in his temple, and 
there were lightnings, and voices, t and an earthquake, and 
great hail." 

On the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which follows on 
the Almighty concluding the communication of his councils, 
all the heavenly choirs break out into acclamations and ap- 
plause, saying: "The kingdom of this world is become our 
Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and 
ever:" or, praise be to the Lord, because he is going to take 
possession of all the kingdoms of the earth, &c. Thus, they 
acknowledge it is time that he should suffer no longer any 
human power to reign; but that He, Omnipotent, with his 
eternal Son, the Christ, should assume all dominion, and 
sway for ever. Then the four and twenty ancients, v. 16, 17, 
whom we saw from the beginning sitting round the throne of 
God, fall down prostrate before the Almighty, and offering 
their homage, give him thanks also for assuming all power 
into his hands, as belonging solely to himself, who is, who was, 
and who is to come; that is, who is the beginning and end of 
all things, who was the Creator, is the Conservator, and will 
come presently as the Judge, of all mankind. The ancients 
continue to say: "the nations were angry," v. 18., mankind 
in different ages abandoned thee, their God, rebelled against 
thee, and set up the infamous worship of idols ; they endea- 
voured to exterminate thy holy name from the earth, and 

* In the Greek " who destroy the earth." 
t Here the Greek text adds, " thunderings." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 313 

they waged war against thy people ; but thy wrath is come, 
and it is just it should now at last overtake them, and punish 
them according to their deserts. We are glad the time of the 
dead is come, that they should be judged, &c. the course of 
human nature has run a sufficient period ; it is now fit and 
just, that judgment should be passed upon the whole race of 
men, that your faithful servants may receive the full reward 
they have deserved, and your enemies be destroyed, or a final 
period be put to the efforts of the wicked, who are labouring 
to subvert your holy worship, and again to corrupt mankind. 
Thus the whole company of angels and saints express their 
approbation of the divine decrees and declarations which the 
Almighty had condescended to communicate to them. 

Then " the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark 
of his testament (or covenant) was seen in his temple," v. 19. 
This passage alludes to the sanctuary or holy of holies of the 
temple in Jerusalem, which was kept shut, and contained the 
ark of the covenant. The ark was ordered by Almighty God 
to be thus kept as a monument and testimony of the covenant 
he had made with the Jews. And as the opening of the sanc- 
tuary at Jerusalem, when the veil that hung before it, was 
rent in two at our Saviour's death, showed that the Jewish 
covenant w r as then fulfilled and terminated ; «o here, the te ru- 
le or sanctuary of God in heaven is opened, and the ark of 
is covenant with the whole human race is exposed fully to 
view, to indicate that God has now fulfilled his covenant or all 
his engagements with mankind relative to this world, which 
is therefore now to be put an end to. 

We had heard the angel that stood upon the sea and land, 
Apoc. x. 5, 6, solemnly proclaim, that at the sounding of the 
seventh trumpet, time shall be no more. The trumpet has 
sounded, and here then is finishing the period of time allotted 
for the existence of the world. The destruction of the whole 
frame of the universe follows, and is ushered in by the terri- 
fying alarms mentioned above: and there were lightnings 
and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, 
v. 19. Upon which immediately 

The seventh vial of the wrath of God is poured out 

Chap. xvi. 17. " And the seventh angel poured out his vial 
upon the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple 
from the throne, saying: * It is done !' 

V. 18. " And there were lightnings, and voices, and thun 
ders, and there was a great earthquake, such a one as never 
27 



t 



314 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

had been since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, 
so great. 

V. 19. "And the great city was divided into three parts: 
And the cities of the Gentiles fell. And great Babylon came 
in remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine 
of the indignation of his wrath. 

V. 20. " And every island fled away, and the mountains 
were not found. 

V. 21. " And great hail like a talent came down from hea- 
ven upon men : and men blasphemed God for the plague of 
the hail : because it was exceeding great." 

The seventh vial is poured upon the air, which lies be- 
tween the earth and the heavens, to indicate that the judg- 
ments of God are going to fall upon both the heavens and the 
earth, that is, on the whole system of the creation. " And 
there came a great voice out of the temple, v. 17, from the 
throne where sits the Almighty, saying : it is done : all is 
over : this is the last hour ; time shall be no more V 1 Then 
follow the dreadful calamities of the last hour. And there 
were lightnings, v. 18, and voices, and thunders, and there 
was a great earthquake, such a one as never had been since 
men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, so great. Here 
is enough to strike all the living at that time with dread, hor- 
ror, and consternation. We saw the same sort of disasters 
happen at the sounding of the trumpet, but here they are re- 
newed and aggravated to the most terrible degree. The hea- 
vens echo with the loudest and most terrifying thunder ; the 
sky is rent in every part with most dreadful flashes of light- 
ning ; and the whole air resounds with horrible voices or 
noises. 

The earth is shaken from its foundations with an earthquake, 
such as has never been felt before, nor has ever entered into 
man to imagine such a one. The whole compares or fabric 
of the world is unhinged and falls to pieces. All is confusion, 
wreck and ruin. The great city of Jerusalem, v. 19, is split 
into three parts, and the other cities of the w r orld fall to the 
ground. But such is the weight of God's anger against the 
great Babylon, that is, the two Baby Ions, viz. pagan Rome 
and pagan Constantinople, or against the heathen Roman em- 
perors and their people, and against Antichrist and his peo- 
ple, for their impiously opposing the w r orship of him to give 
place to idolatry, and for their spilling so much of the blood 
of his faithful servants ; such, I say, is the weight of God's 
anger against them, that they stand as the principal detestable 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 315 

object in his sight, and he now resolves to make them drink 
the full cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath, by- 
completing the measure of their punishment, in dooming their 
bodies together with their souls to burn in the most scorching 
flames of fire and sulphur for ever. 

Such is the general concussion caused by the above-men- 
tioned earthquake, that all the islands immediately vanish, v. 
20, being perhaps either sunk in the deep, or thrown against 
the continent : and of the mountains, some tumble to pieces, and 
are levelled with the surface of the earth by the same cause; 
others burst out into volcanoes, and by their internal fire are 
dissolved and melted into a fluid matter.* Then follows a 
storm of hail, v. 21, infinitely exceeding what had ever been 
heard of: the hailstones are of the weight of a talent, or four- 
score pounds : which doubtless must kill a great number of 
people. But, notwithstanding such a shocking catastrophe — 
strange! — many will persist obstinate in their wicked dispo- 
sitions, will not yield to turn their hearts to repentance and 
sue for pardon in these last moments, but will even complete 
their impiety by blaspheming God for these calamities which 
they suffer. 

As all mankind are sentenced to die, those that are not car- 
ried off by the disasters just mentioned, will probably be des- 
patched by the fire which will go before the Son of man when 
he comes to judgment : for so it seems to be specified by the 
royal psalmist with other circumstances relating to this terri- 
ble day: "A fire shall go before him, (the Lord,) and shall 
burn his enemies round about. His lightnings have shone 
forth to the world : the earth saw and trembled. The moun- 
tains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord; at the pre- 
sence of the Lord all the earth. The heavens declared his 
justice, and all people saw his glory." Psalm xcvi. And again 
in another place: " The earth shook and trembled : the foun- 
dations of the mountains were troubled and were moved be- 
cause he (the Lord) was angry with them. There went up 
a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: coals 
were kindled with it He bowed the heavens and came down, 

and darkness was under his feet. And the Lord thundered 

from heaven, and the Highest gave his voice, hail and coals of 
fire. And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them : 
he multiplied lightnings and troubled them. TJien the foun- 

* Before we saw the islands, and mountains "moved out of their 
places," Apoc. vi. 14-, but here they entirely disappear. 



316 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 

tains of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were 
disco vered." Psalm xvii. It is plain that many of the dread- 
ful events and convulsions of nature here expressed are the 
same with those related above by St. John. Such will be the 
frightful scenes, the universal confusion and destruction in 
that day of wrath, that day of tribulation and distress, that day 
of calamity and misery. The prophet Isaiah has also sketch- 
ed out to us the outlines of that same terrifying picture: 

Chap. xxiv. 17. " Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon 
thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth. 

V. 1 8. " And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from 
the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit ; and he that shall 
rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare ; for the 
floodgates from on high are opened, and the foundations of 
the earth shall be shaken. 

V. 19. " With breaking shall the earth be broken, with 
crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall 
the earth be moved. 

V. 20. " With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a 
drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night ; 
and the iniquity shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and 
shall not rise again." 

The beautiful frame of the universe being therefore now 
totally disfigured, broken, torn to pieces, and reduced to a mere 
wreck, fire will be the instrument the Almighty will use to 
dissolve the whole mass ; as we learn from St. Peter, 
2 Epist. iii. 10. " The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, 
in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, 
the elements shall be meited with heat, and the earth and the 
works that are in it, shall be burnt up. 

V. 11. " Seeing then that all these things are to be dis- 
solved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy con- 
versation and godliness ? 

V. 12. " Looking for and hasting unto the coming of 
the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire 
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burn- 
ing heat." Here then we see that the world will be set on 
fire, that the heavens will be quickly dissolved by the prodi- 
gious activity of the fire, and so vanish: that the earth will be 
likewise burned, with the works that are in it, with all that 
it contains within it or upon its surface; and that the elements, 
namely, water and air, will lose their fluidity, and their sub- 
stantial parts will be dissolved or melted. "Heaven and 
earth shall pass away," said our Saviour. Luke xxi. 33. But 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 317 

we must observe it is not said that they will be wholly con* 
sumed and annihilated, but dissolved or burned, and conse- 
quently transformed into a different appearance, as God shall 
direct. 

But while these stupendous operations of fire are subvert- 
ing nature, and changing the whole face of the universe, the 
Son of man descends from the highest heaven to come and 
judge mankind. For, " the Father doth not judge any man ; 
but hath given all judgment to the Son. John v. 22. 

Apoc. xx. 11. "And I saw," says St. John, "a great 
white throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose face the 
earth and heaven fled away and there was no place found for. 
them. 

V. 12. " And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in 
the presence of the throne, and the books were opened : and 
another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the 
dead were judged by those things which were written in the 
books, according to their works." 

The son of God appears in the firmament seated on a 
great and bright white throne, and at his presence the earth and 
heaven flee away, or disappear, that is, the earth, the atmos- 
phere, and all belonging to the sky, are not only enwrapped 
in flames* but entirely pass away and vanish out of sight, so 
that their place is not found nor can be distinguished. No- 
thing is now visible of the works of the creation. The sole 
object that fills the expanse of heaven, is the resplendent majesty 
of the Son of God sitting on his throne. The dead then, 
both great and small, of all ranks and degrees, appear before 
him, namely, the last generation of the human race, who 
have just expired in the general destruction of the world. This 
prodigious multitude of souls are summoned to undergo the 
particular judgment which is fixed for all mankind at the 
hour of their death. " It is appointed unto men once to die, 
after this, the judgment." Ep. to the Hebr. ix. 27. This 
particular judgment must be here meant by St. John, and not 
the general judgment which is described in the next verse, 
as our prophet never repeats the same thing. The books are 
opened, and will remain open during the general judgment 
that is quickly to follow. In these books are recorded the 
actions of every individual man, according to which sentence 
will be passed upon him. The Son of God, from his own 
infinite knowledge, is equally acquainted with the works of 
every man, as if they were registered in a book ; but this 
figurative expression shows the rigour and exactness of his 
27* 



318 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

scrutiny,' which will not let the least fault or good work 
escape his notice. Another book is likewise opened, viz. the 
hook of life, in which are written the names of all the pre- 
destined or elect. 

This numerous company of souls being therefore judged 
by those things which were written in the books according to 
their works, Christ sends forth his messenger, an archangel, 
who by his order blows the last trumpet ; the sound of which 
echoes to all the extremities of the earth. At this sound, in 
an instant, all the dead rise up from their graves, never more 
to die. " In a moment," says St. Paul, " in the twinkling of an 
eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet yet shall sound, and 
the dead shall rise again incorruptible." 1 Cor. xv. 52. The 
general resurrection is likewise thus briefly described to us 
by St. John : 

\p. Apoc. xx. 13. " And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; 
and death and hell gave up their dead that were in them." The 
sea is first here said to deliver up its dead. By the sea, in 
our prophet's language, we must understand the whole ex- 
tent of the terraqueous globe, in as much as it contains the 
dead bodies of the saints, who may be said to have waded 
through the tempestuous sea of this world, or through a long 
course of tribulations, persecutions, and hardships, which 
sanctified their lives. Their bodies therefore rise up the first, 
and this is confirmed by St. Paul : " The dead who are in 
Christ, shall rise first." 1 Thes. iv. 15. Heaven presents 
their souls, and by the happy union of soul and body, the 
saints stand vested with complete immortality. Then death 
and hell give up their dead ; death here signifying the graves 
of the wicked, as containing the mortal part of those whose 
souls lie in the death of damnation. These bodies likewise 
rise to life, and are joined to their souls which hell vomits 
up, and thus they become inseparable companions of the 
same eternal fate which they will soon be doomed to undergo. 
Every individual of mankind being thus raised to life, from 
Adam to the last of the human race, they will all see the Al- 
mighty Son of God coming down through the upper regions 
of the sky, seated on bright clouds as upon a throne, sur- 
rounded with the splendour of his divine Majesty, attended 
by the angels, and his cross, the instrument of the world's 
redemption, carried before him: "And then," says Christ 
himself, "shall appear the sign of the Son of man in hea- 
ven : and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn ; and they 
shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 319 

with much power and majesty." Matt. xxiv. 30. And our 
prophet in the Apocalypse also says of him : " Behold he 
cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and 
they also that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth 
shall bewail themselves because of him," i. 7. The appear- 
ance then of the Son of God coming in his majesty to judg- 
ment will strike the wicked with dread and consternation. 
The different tribes of them will mourn and bewail their 
miserable condition : the Jews, that pierced him or put him to 
death, and those who had refused to acknowledge him for 
their Saviour and Messiah : the infidels, who would not be 
converted, and who had persecuted him in his servants ; in 
fine, the rest of the wicked, who had made no use of the re- 
demption he had purchased for them, but on the contrary had 
heinously injured him by their repeated crimes and impiety. 
But on the other hand, what a consolation, what an auspi- 
cious moment, will it be for the just, to see their Redeemer 
coming to reward them, and to make their happiness com- 
plete, for all eternity ! They will fly to meet him, as their 
Father and Saviour, with inexpressible alacrity and joy; as 
we learn from St. Paul : " The Lord himself shall come 
down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of 
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God : and the dead 
who are in Christ, shall rise first. Then we who are alive, 
who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the 
clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always 
with the Lord." 1 Thes. iv. 15, 16. 

All the individuals of the human race appear now existing 
at once and together, a wonderful spectacle that never was 
seen before, nor will be seen after. For this great company 
will soon be divided into two bodies that must separate, never 
more to be joined. They are called up and cited to appear 
at the bar of the throne and judgment-seat of the Son of God. 
There " they are judged every one according to their works." 
Apoc. xx. 13. To the just are adjudged eternal rewards for 
their labours: and this may be styled, the second resurrec- 
tion, as the prior admission of their souls to beatitude, on the 
death of their bodies, was called by St. John, " the first resur- 
rection." Apoc. xx. 5. The saints having thus received their 
happy sentence, are admitted to attend Christ and to sit with him 
in judgment over the wicked, according to what he had pro- 
mised: "Amen, I say unto you, that you who have followed 
me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the 
seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging 



320 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

the twelve tribes of Israel." Matt. xix. 28. Then follows the 
sentence upon the wicked, by which they are doomed to the 
unquenchable flames of hell for ever, or, as St. John ex- 
presses it, 

Chap. xx. 14. " And hell and death were cast into the pool 
of fire. This is the second death." 

Hell and death, before, denoted the places where the souls 
and bodies of the reprobate lay, but here, by an easy transi- 
tion, they are employed to signify these souls and bodies them- 
selves, which are cast into the infernal pool of fire : and this 
damnation of both together, at the last judgment, is here de- 
nominated, the second death; while that of the soul only, 
which had preceded at the time of her separation from the 
body, may receive the name of first death. — Thus much 
from the Apocalypse. 

But the general arraignment of all mankind before the tri- 
bunal of Christ at the last day, and the special judgment he 
will pass upon them, are more clearly and explicitly exhibited 
us by Christ himself in his following words : " When the 
Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with 
him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty; and all 
nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall 
separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth 
the sheep from the goats : and he shall set the sheep on his 
right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king 
say to them that shall be on his right hand : 4 Come ye blessed 
of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and 
you gave me to eat : I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink,' 
&c. — Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left 
hand : * Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire 
which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was 
hungry, and you gave me not to eat ; I was thirsty, and you 
gave me not to drink,' &c. — And these shall go into ever- 
lasting punishment : but the just into life everlasting," Matt. 
xxv. 31, &c. And again, our Saviour speaking on the same 
subject in another place, says : " As tares are gathered up and 
burnt with fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The 
Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out 
of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity : 
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire : there shall be 
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine as 
the sun, in the kingdom of their Father." Matt, xiii, &c. In 
fine, the general judgment finishes by 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 321 

Chap. xx. 15. " And whosoever," says our prophet, "was 
not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of 
fire." All those who have not " by good works made sure 
their calling and election," 2 Pet. i. 10, and so have not got- 
ten their names registered in the book of life, are condemned 
to hell fire for all eternity. 

The general judgment is an event so tremendous and so 
interesting to mankind, that our Saviour frequently inculcated 
it in his discourses, as we see in the gospel : and St. John in 
the Apocalypse, besides the natural description of it above 
cited, gives us a second allegorical one, with new circum- 
stances, under two elegant expressive figures of harvest and 
vintage. Thus paints the admirable and exact pencil of our 
incomparable prophet : 

Chap. xiv. 14. " And I saw, and behold a white cloud: 
and upon the cloud one sitting like to the Son of man, having 
on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 

V. 15. " And another angel came out from the temple, cry- 
ing with a loud voice to him that sat upon the cloud : Thrust 
in thy sickle, and reap, because the hour is come to reap, for 
the harvest of the earth is ripe. 

V. 16. " And he that sat on the cloud, thrust his sickle into 
the earth, and the earth was reaped. 

V. 17. " And another angel came out of the temple which 
is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 

V. 18. " And another angel came out from the altar, who 
had power over fire: and he cried with a loud voice to him 
that had the sharp sickle, saying : Thrust in thy sharp sic- 
kle, and gather the clusters of the vineyard of the earth : 
because the grapes thereof are ripe. 

V. 19. " And the angel thrust in his sharp sickle into the 
earth, and gathered the vineyard of the earth, and cast into 
the great press of the wrath of God. 

V. 20. " And the press was trodden without the city, and 
blood came out of the press, up to the horses' bridles for a 
thousand six hundred furlongs." 

The Son of man, v. 14, or Christ, is seen by St. John sit- 
ting on a white cloud, as we saw him before, bearing on his 
head a crown of gold for a mark of his sovereign power and 
dominion over the world, and in his hand a sharp sickle, an 
instrument for cutting down corn.* Then an angel comes 
out from the temple in heaven, v. 15, from tho Almighty who 

* In Great Britain and Ireland all kinds of grain are called by the gene- 
ral term Corn.— Am. Ed. 



322 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

sits there enthroned, and brings orders to the Son of man to 
thrust in his sickle and reap ; because the hour is come to reap, 
for the harvest of the earth is ripe; the number of saints pre-or- 
dained by the Almighty is completed, and the period allotted 
to the existence of the human species is run out. Christ, in 
obedience to his eternal Father, thrusts his sickle into the earth, 
and the earth is reaped, v. 16; he puts an end to the world, 
and reaps the harvest of his elect, by withdrawing them from 
all further labours, and gathering them to himself as the hus- 
bandman gathers his corn into his granary. " And he (the 
Son of man) shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great 
voice : and they shall gather together his elect from the four 
winds, from the farthest part of the heavens to the utmost 
bounds of them." Matt. xxiv. 31. The harvest being made, 
follows the vintage. 

An angel comes out, v. 17, from the temple in heaven, as 
sent by the Almighty, with a sharp sickle in his hand, and 
presently comes forth, v. 18, from the altar of holocausts 
where fire was perpetually kept, a second angel who hath 
power over the fire, and who is commanded, because perpetual 
fire is to be the punishment of the wicked, to tell the first an- 
gel to thrust in his sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of 
the vineyard of the earth : because the grapes thereof are ripe. 
The angel executes the order, cuts off in an instant the clusters 
of grapes over the whole earth, v. 19, gathers them together, 
and casts them into the great press or wine-press of the wrath 
of God : that is, the angel collects together the whole troop of 
the reprobate, and casts them, as being ripe for punishment, 
into the deep pit of hell. This is conformable to what we hear 
from our Saviour : " The Son of man," says he, " shall send 
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scan- 
dals, and them that work iniquity : and shall cast them into 
the furnace of fire." Matt. xiii. 41, 42. St. John then adds, 
v. 20, " And the press was trodden without the city, and blood 
came out of the press, up to the horses' bridles for a thousand 
six hundred furlongs." Here is a striking allegorical expres- 
sion of the effusion of God's anger upon the damned, who are 
represented as trodden in the lake of hell, in the same manner 
as grapes are trodden in the wine-press : and the person that 
thus treats them, we are told, is Christ himself; "he treadeth 
the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Al- 
mighty." Apoc. xix. 15. Christ is constituted the avenger 
of the injuries done to his almighty Father, and is his minis- 
ter to execute his judgments upon the impious. The allusion 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 323 

of the treading- of the wine-press is carried on, and as if it 
were supposed that the whole heap of the damned lodged in 
the pit of hell, were there trodden, there would issue out from 
their bodies a quantity of blood that would cover a space of 
ground, all around, to the distance of a thousand six hundred 
furlongs, or two hundred miles, and to such a height, that the 
blood would reach to the horses' bridles, if waded through. 
This sea of blood would not, however, affect the city or man- 
sion of the blessed, which is placed at a great distance. One 
cannot but shudder at the picture here exposed to us, as it sug- 
gests the dismal idea of such an immense multitude of the 
human species devoted to the flames of hell without hope of 
redemption. For, in effect, if a circular space, of four hun- 
dred miles diameter, be covered with blood to four feet height, 
which is about the height of a middle-sized horse's bridle from 
the ground; and if we suppose fifteen pounds to be, at an 
average, the quantity of blood in a man ; the density of blood 
being nearly one 25th greater than that of water, a foot cubic 
of which weighs a thousand ounces ; we shall find, by making 
the computation, that the number of men's bodies, requisite to 
give the mass of blood above mentioned, will be upwards of 

60,000,000,000,00a 

We have now seen, on one side, the body of the reprobate 
banished from the presence of Christ, and doomed to their 
perpetual prison : while on the other side the whole company 
of saints shine with all the noble qualities belonging to bodies 
clothed with immortality. They now see the happy moment 
arrived for the accomplishment of all their expectations. That 
part of them, who adorned the world before the Saviour of 
mankind appeared in it, are called into the heavenly mansions 
with angelical acclamations. They enter, singing in jubila- 
tion : " Come, let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully 
sing to God our Saviour. Let us come before his presence w T ith 
thanksgiving : and make a joyful noise to him with psalms." 
Psalm xciv. The other body composed of the Christian 
saints, are gratified in a peculiar manner with the gracious 
countenance of Christ, their Lord and Master, who invites 
them to reign with them in bliss for all eternity. On so happy 
an occasion that crowns all their wishes, the heavens resound 
with the loudest acclamations of joy and exultation : 

Chap. xix. 7. " Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory 
to him, (God,) for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his 
wife has prepared herself. 

V. 8. " And it was granted to her that she should clothe 



324 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

herself with fine linen, glittering and white. For the fine 
linen are the justifications of saints. 

V. 9. " And he said to me : Write, blessed are they that are 
called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." The heavenly 
choirs thus break out into jubilation and transports of joy, be- 
cause the time is come for the nuptials of the Lamb, that is, 
for Christ to espouse his Church, which is the society of his 
saints, by taking her to himself, by freeing her from all ene- 
mies, by removing all evils for ever from her, by enriching her 
with every blessing, and in fine by cherishing her as a spouse 
does his beloved consort. The wife or bride of the Lamb, 
that is, the company of Christian saints, appears in a suitable 
garb for the marriage. She is dressed in fine linen, the symbol 
of the justifications or the good works and merits of her holy 
members ; the most pleasing attire in which she can present 
herself to the Lamb. Her robe is glittering and white, be- 
cause she has been purified as silver in the furnace, and 
washed white in the waters of tribulation and persecution. 
Here then follows the marriage of the Lamb, or the gracious 
and affectionate union of Christ with his saints. He then in- 
troduces them into heaven, and presents them, as his bride, 
before the throne to his eternal Father. Then may be truly 
said, Blessed are they, v. 9, that are called to the marriage 
supper of the Lamb ; the saints are seated in glory, and filled 
with ineffable and endless bliss, which is the marriage supper, 
the ultimate term of all. 

After so glorious a conclusion of the marriage feast, St. 
John proceeds, 

V. 9. " And he saith to me : these words of God are true." 
The angel of Christ, that is, St. John Baptist, who in the form 
of an angel attends the apostle during this prophecy, gives tes- 
timony to what has been just pronounced : Blessed are they 
that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The an- 
gel affirms that these are the words of God, and consequently 
true, or will infallibly have their accomplishment at the ap- 
pointed time, viz. at the last day. 

The apostle supposing this to be the conclusion of all that 
was to be revealed to him, turns to the angel : 

V. 10. "And I fell down," says he, " before his feet, to adore 
him. And he saith to me: See thou do it not: I am thy 
fellow-servant, and of thy brethren who have the testimony of 
Jesus. Adore God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit 
of prophecy." St. John, in token of gratitude, offers to pay 
to the angel such homage as is due to a being of his rank, 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 325 

which the angel however refuses to accept, giving for reason, 
that he is a fellow-servant of the apostle and of the apostle's 
brethren who bear testimony to Jesus Christ. This speech 
evidently agrees with the character of the Baptist, but not 
with that of a real angel. Then St. John is told to adore 
God, as the author of all prophecy : after which the angel 
adds : for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, that 
is, the testimony which you give to Christ by suffering for his 
holy name and the profession of his doctrine is of equal value 
with the spirit of prophecy, by which I reveal to you these 
future events. 

Though the divine incomparable revelation, here imparted 
to St. John, seemed in this place to terminate, as having car- 
ried on the history of the Christian Church from its birth to 
its triumphant state after the resurrection, yet we see further 
discoveries communicated, and new scenes shown to the apos- 
tle. He has described to us the wreck and dissolution of the 
world, the resurrection of mankind, the judgment passed upon 
them, with the punishment of the wicked and the recompense 
of the good. The prophet now proceeds to lay before us a 
series of new pictures, the objects of which are of so uncouth 
a nature, so different from any thing we are acquainted with, 
that it is beyond the power of man to explain them to full 
satisfaction. The first of these pictures he exhibits to us is 
the following: 

Chap. xxi. 1. "And I saw, says he, a new heaven and a 
new earth. For the first heaven, and the first earth was 
gone, and the sea is now no more." Here is a total change 
in our system of nature. The earth, that was, the heaven or 
sky, with its atmosphere, its clouds, &c. had passed away and 
vanished ; but now a " new heaven and a new earth" appear. 
The same we are taught by St. Peter ; " We look," says he, 
" for new heavens and a new earth, according to his promises 
in which justice dwelleth." 2 Ep. iii. 13. This new heaven 
and new earth are not of new creation, but the former heaven 
and earth, purified by fire, renewed by the hand of God, and 
made much more perfect, "not other heavens and another 
earth," says St. Jerom, " but the former ones changed into 
better." In Isai. lxv. And St. Gregory the Great, speaking 
of the same, says: " Others are not to be created, but these 
same renewed." Lib. xvii. Moral, in Job. c. 5. This senti- 
ment is founded on Scripture. The psalmist represents the 
heavens and the earth growing old and wearing away like a 
garment, and then to be changed. " In the beginning, Lord, 
28 



326 tflSTORV OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

thou foundedst the earth : and the heavens are the works of 
thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest : and all 
of them shall grow old like a garment : and as a vesture thou 
shalt change them, and they shall be changed." Ps. ci. 26, 
&c. Solomon also Seems to assure us, that every thing shall 
remain that has been created : " I have learned,'' says he, 
" that all the works which God has made, continue for ever." 
Eccl. iii. 14. Upon which St. Gregory the Great's comment 
is : " they will pass, as to their present figure or appearance, 
but as to their substance they will remain for ever." Lib; xvii. 
Moral, in Job. c. 5. St. Austin tells us, that " by the change 
of things the world will not entirely perish or be annihilated. 
Its form or external appearance will be changed, but not its 
substance." Lib. xx. de Civ. c, 14. And again more amply: 
" The figure of this world will pass away by the general con* 
flagration. — The qualities of the corruptible elements, oi 
which our world is composed, which were proportioned to 
our corruptible bodies, will be entirely destroyed by the fire : 
and the substance of those elements will acquire new qualities 
which will be suitable to our immortal bodies : and thus the 
world, by becoming more perfect, will be proportioned to the 
then improved state of the human body." Ibid. c. 16. After 
the same manner speak St. Justin, St. Basil, and other holy 
fathers. Hence we may conclude that our new world, as to 
its substance, will be the same as the old ; but its qualities 
will be totally altered, so as to be no more pernicious to the 
human body, offensive to the senses, or obnoxious to unsea- 
sonable vicissitudes. Every part will then appear bright, glo- 
rious, pleasing to the senses, and inspiring happiness. They 
will form as it were a paradise* Whether the superior hea- 
vens, that contain the sun, moon, and stars, will undergo the 
same change, is uncertain ; and the writers on this subject are 
divided in their opinions. 

St. John adds in this place a particularity worthy our no- 
tice; and the sea is now no more; being perhaps wholly 
dried up, as to its fluidity, by the fire; and its component solid 
parts reduced into the same state with the rest of the terrestri- 
al globe. Thus the sea will be no more, as being of no 
further use. This entire suppression of the sea may give a 
reason, why the angel, whose feet were as pillars of fire, 
when he announced the end of the world, stood with his right 
foot upon the sea, and his left upon the land, Apoc. x. 1, 2. 
The right foot denoting a greater power of strength, which is 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 327 

here required to consume water, so much more opposite in 
its nature to fire than dry land. 

The scene of nature being now totally changed, and 
the new heavens and the new earth being formed, St. John 
proceeds, 

Chap. xxi. 2. " And I John saw the holy city, the new 
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God." Here 
our prophet begins a new period, which is, the period of 
eternity. He had hitherto related the history of the Christ? 
ian church in a regular course from its first rise to its pass- 
ing away with time itself and with the destruction of the 
world. He does not however stop here, but eagle-like, with a 
new flight carries us into the regions of eternity, and shows 
us a sketch of the glorious state the blessed will enjoy during 
that endless period. The account of this new period St. John 
now begins, and for that reason says not simply, I saw, as is 
usual with him : but I John saw, in the same manner as he 
began the first part of his history, with, " I John, your 
brother — was in the spirit on the Lord's day," &c. Apoc. i. 
9, 10. From what we have seen it appears, that St. John's 
prophecy is almost confined to the history of the Christian 
Church, but that he has nevertheless gone beyond that bounda- 
ry, in the instance of relating to us the general judgment of 
all mankind. In like manner he is now going to describe the 
heavenly triumphant state of the whole Church of God, that 
is, of the whole body of the saints. But we must here take 
ndtice of the plan which he follows, which is, to divide them 
into two societies. The first is of the saints that lived in the 
ages prior to Christianity, and who worshipped the supreme 
Deity in the unity of Godhead. The second society compre^ 
hends all Christian saints, who adored God in Trinity of 
persons. These observations premised, we now return to the 
text. 

Chap. xxi. 2. "And I John saw," says he, "the holy city 
the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, from Goa, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

V. 3. " And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: 
Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell 
with them. And they shall be his people; and God himself 
with them shall be their God. 

V. 4. " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: 
and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor 
sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed 
away. 



328 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

V. 5. " And he that sat on the throne, said : Behold, I 
make all things new." 

This holy city, this new Jerusalem, that is seen descending 
from heaven, from God, and appears so bright and shining, 
like a bride dressed up to meet her husband, is the heaven or 
the glorious and happy mansions of all the saints that existed 
before our Saviour, or that lived under the law of nature and 
the Mosaic: and it is new in allusion to the former Jerusalem 
which had been their habitation on earth. This heavenly 
Jerusalem may therefore be styled the patriarchal and Jewish 
Jerusalem. We shall see in the sequel the Christian Jeru- 
salem. This new city of the blessed is seen coming down 
out of heaven from God, to the new earth where it fixes, to 
show that now heaven and earth are joined, and that heaven 
is there wherever God is. To express the extraordinary de- 
gree of light, with which this heavenly city will be illumi- 
nated, Isaiah says: "The light of the moon shall be as the 
light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven fold, 
as the light of seven days," xxx. 26. The expressions 
that follow in verse 3 : " behold the tabernacle of God with 
men, and he will dwell with them," &c. apparently belong to 
the Jewish and patriarchal ages, and frequently occur in the 
Old Testament, and particularly in the ancient prophets; 
which shows that this is the patriarchal and Jewish heavenly 
Jerusalem. The holy inhabitants of this city will be blessed 
with complete felicity, arising from the presence of God dwell- 
ing with them, and will experience no more sorrow nor any 
other misery, v. 4. " God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes : and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor 
crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things 
are passed away. And he that sat on the throne, (God,) said : 
Behold I make all things new." The prophet Isaiah had 
said nearly the same things: "The Lord," says he, "shall 
cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall 
wipe away tears from every face," xxv. 8. And, " Behold," 
says God by the same prophet, " I create new heavens and 
a new earth : and the former things shall not be in remem- 
brance, and they shall not come upon the heart. But you 
should be glad and rejoice for ever in these things, which I 
create : for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and the 
people thereof joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy 
in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard 
in her, nor the voice of crying," Ixv. 17, &c. The Almighty 
makes all things new to these blessed beings, a new Jerusa- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 329 

lem or seat of bliss, a new state of existence quite different 
from what it had been in this world : all is now happiness, 
glory, and exultation. — St. John proceeds, 

V. 5. M And he said to me : write, for these words are most 
faithful and true." Here is the sanction of the Almighty. He 
gives testimony to the truth of what has been said of the hap- 

Einess and glory of the Jewish and patriarchal Church in 
eaven, and he professes to be faithful in the execution of 
these promises. 

V. 6. " And he said to me : It is done. I am Alpha and 
Omega : the beginning and the end." The Almighty again 
speaks, and says : It is done ; time is past and eternity is be- 
gun. I am Alpha and Omega: the beginning and the end: 
I framed the universe, I destroyed it, and renewed it at my 
pleasure : All mankind received their existence from me, and 
they ultimately return to me to be rewarded or punished : I 
called the patriarchs, and I chose the Jews, I was their God, 
and of all the just of those ages, and I shall be their God and 
reward for all eternity. The Almighty proceeds, 

V. 6. " To him that thirsteth I will give of the fountain of 
the water of life, freely. 

V. 7. " He that shall overcome, shall possess these things, 
and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." 

To those that shall have thirsted, says God, after the water 
of life, after heavenly beatitude, and endeavoured to deserve 
it, I will give it ; ana my gift will be free or gratuitous, be- 
cause human merit can never equal the reward which I be- 
stow, nor is there any human merit without the concurrence 
of my grace. 

I shall give them plentifully to drink of this water of life, 
by replenishing them with that abundance of sweet satisfac- 
tion, which surpasses all conception. u They shall be inebri- 
ated with the plenty of thy house," says the psalmist; " and 
thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure," 
Psalm xxxv. 9. And whoever shall have overcome, v. 7, 
that is, whoever shall have courageously fought in the cause 
of religion, or who shall have preserved himself free from 
idolatry, injustice, and works of iniquity, and shall have 
walked in the observance of my precepts, he shall inhabit this 
city, this mansion of immortality, and shall possess for ever 
the ineffable blessings of felicity that abound in it, and I will 
be his God, and he shall be my son. Such will be the happy 
state of the courageous and zealous servants of God. 

V. 8. " But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomina- 
28* 



330 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

i 

ble, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and 
idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the 
pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second 
death." 

The account being here concluded of the future state of that 
part of mankind which preceded the age of Christianity, we 
are now invited to a new spectacle. 

V. 9. " And there came one of the seven angels, who had 
the vials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me, 
saying : Come, and I will show thee the bride, the wife of the 
Lamb. 

V. 10. " And he took me up in spirit to a great and high 
mountain : and he showed me the holy city of Jerusalem* 
coming down out of heaven from God, 

V. 11. " Having the glory of God: and the light thereof 
was like to a precious stone, as to the jasper-stone, even as 
crystal." 

Here we are favoured with a sight of the heavenly Jeru- 
salem, or seat of bliss of the Christian saints. The ground 
of this distinction of two Jerusalems appears, not only from 
the prophet's invariable rule of not repeating the same thing, 
but also from their respective descriptions. The first, which 
we saw above, agrees with the nature and terms of the cove- 
nant of God with mankind relatively to the ages before the 
aera of Christianity ; and this latter Jerusalem is particularly 
distinguished by being styled the bride and wife of the Lamb, 
which evidently characterizes the Christian Church. The 
view of this seat of heavenly beatitude is offered to St. John 
by one of the seven angels who had the vials full of the seven 
last plagues, it being fit that the rewards of the just should be 
proclaimed by the same angels, who before had poured the 
vials of divine punishments on the wicked. These vials ap- 
pertain solely to the Christian Church. St. John is carried 
in spirit to the top of a great and high mountain, to be ena- 
bled to see over the high wall into this great city, the holy 
Jerusalem of the Christian saints, which he sees coming down 
out of heaven from God, to fix upon the earth. It is filled 
with the brightness of the glory of God ; and its light is as 
shining as the lustre of the finest precious stone, and as agree- 
able to the eye as the view of the most transparent green jas- 
per stone. 

V. 12. "And it had a wall great and high, having twelve 

* In the Greek text, " the great city, the holy Jerusalem/* 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 331 

gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written 
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the child- 
ren of Israel. 

V. 13. " On the east, three gates; and on the north, three 
gates ; and on the south, three gates ; and on the west, three 
gates." 

This heavenly city is surrounded with a great and high 
wall, and has twelve gates, three to the east, as many to the 
west, to the north, and to the south. They are guarded by 
twelve angels in the same manner as an angel was appointed 
to guard the gate of the terrestrial Paradise : and upon each 
gate is inscribed the name of one of the twelve tribes of the 
children of Israel, because from them the Christian Church 
was first formed, and thus they became the leaders or gate of 
entrance to all succeeding Christians. 

V. 14. " And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, 
and in them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the 
Lamb." The wall stands on twelve foundations raised one 
upon another, on which are severally inscribed the names of 
the twelve apostles of the Lamb ; they being, after Christ, the 
foundations of his Church. 

V. 15. "And he that spoke with me, had a measure of a 
reed of gold, to measure the city and the gates thereof, and 
the wall. 

V. 16. " And the city lieth in a four-square, and the length 
thereof is as great as the breadth : and he measured the city 
with a golden reed for twelve thousand furlongs : and the 
length, and the height, and the breadth thereof are equal. 

V. 17. " And he measured the wall thereof an hundred 
forty-four cubits, the measure of a man which is of an angel." 

The angel who shows and explains these things to St. 
John, measures with a golden rod the city, its walls and gates, 
and finds the plan of the city to be an exact square, and its 
whole circuit to be twelve thousand furlongs, or fifteen hun- 
dred miles. The wall of each side of this square is therefore, 
three thousand furlongs, or three hundred and seventy-five 
miles long; and what is strange, its height is said to be equal 
to its length ; so that the whole fabric of the city forms an 
exact cube, the length, breadth, and height of which are, each 
severally, three hundred and seventy-five miles. What a 
prodigious city! but, "In my father's house," says our Sa- 
viour, "there are many mansions." John xiv. 2. Such an 
extensive habitation, we hope, indicates the vast multitude that 
will be of Christian citizens. The angel likewise measures 



332 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

the thickness of the wall, v. 17, and finds it to be an hun- 
dred and forty-four cubits, or two hundred and sixteen feet ; a 
cubit being the measure from the elbow to the extremity of 
the hand of an ordinary man, or a foot and a half nearly, 
which is the measure used by the angel. 

V. 18. "And the building of the wall thereof was of jas- 
per-stone : but the city itself pure gold, like to clear glass." 
St. John having described the dimensions of this great city, 
the basis of which being a square and the structure a cube, 
form the most elegant and most perfect figure of an edifice ; 
he now proceeds to give us an account of the materials of 
which the whole is built, which are the richest that can be 
imagined. The wall is built of fine green jasper-stone, the 
colour best suited to the eye. The city itself, by which we 
suppose are meant the buildings of the city, is constructed 
wholly of pure gold as transparent as crystal. 

V. 19. " And the foundations of the wall of the city, were 
adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foun- 
dation was jasper : the second, sapphire : the third, a chalce- 
dony : the fourth, an emerald: 

V. 20. " The fifth, sardonyx : the sixth, sardius : the se- 
venth, chrysolite : the eighth, beryl : the ninth, a topaz : the 
tenth, a chrysoprasus : the eleventh, a jacinth : the twelfth, an 
amethyst." The twelve foundations that support the wall of 
the city, are adorned with the most shining and most beauti- 
ful precious stones, which are here particularly specified: As 
the names of the twelve apostles are inscribed upon them, v. 
14, perhaps the qualities of each stone bear some relation to 
the peculiar endowments of the apostle whose name is upon 
it ; but this relation we cannot pretend to discover. 

V. 21. "And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one to 
each : and every several gate was of one several pearl. And 
the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent 
glass." The twelve gates of the city in their jambs and ex- 
ternal structure and decorations are made of so many beau 
tiful pearls, a pearl for each gate : and the door of each gate 
is formed of one single pearl. And the streets and whole area 
of the city are paved with pure gold, transparent as chrystal 
What can be more rich, splendid, or sumptuous? 

V. 22. " And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God 
Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb. 

V. 23. " And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the 
moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened 
it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." This heavenly city 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 333 

wants no temple : Almighty God and the Lamb residing in it 
supply the place of a temple : they are always present to the 
blessed inhabitants, who thus see their God and Saviour face 
to face, and offer their homage immediately to them. Nor is 
there any occasion for the light of the sun or moon : the city is al- 
ways illuminated by the resplendent glory and brightness of the 
Deity which serve in the place of the sun, and the Lamb him- 
self is the great luminary of it, in lieu of the moon. The same 
glorious perfections of this city are also painted to us in the 
same colours by the prophet Isaiah : " Thou shalt no more 
have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness 
of the moon enlighten thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee 
for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory," lx. 19. 

V. 24. " And the nations* shall walk in the light of it: and 
the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into 
it." The citizens, who shall enjoy these blessings will be se- 
lected from all the nations that have espoused the Christian 
law. And the kings of the earth who have truly served Christ, 
the King of kings, shall there offer their homage to the Al- 
mighty and to the Lamb, and lay their crowns and honours 
at the foot of the throne. 

V. 25. " And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day : 
for there shall be no night there. 

V. 26. "And they shall bring the glory and honour of the 
nations into it." The gates of the city will always be open, 
as it can suffer no danger from enemies, nor any disturbance. 
Nor will there be ever the least obscurity or darkness, its 
light, which proceeds from God and the Lamb, remaining al- 
ways equally intense and inextinguishable. Some of all ranks 
and conditions, out of all the nations of the earth, will there 
be found offering to the supreme Deity their glory and honour, 
that is, their riches, their dignities, or whatever blessings they 
had been possessed of in life. The same glorious things we 
hear from the mouth of that ancient prophet, who always spoke 
with rapture of Christ and his kingdom: " Thy gates shall 
be open continually : they shall not be shut day nor night, that 
the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee, and their 
kings may be brought." Isaiah lx. 11. 

V. 27. " There shall not enter into it any thing defiled, or 
that worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are 
written in the book of life of the Lamb." Such is the holi- 
ness of the place, that nothing defiled, unclean, nothing stain* 

* In the Greek text, H tfre nations of those that are saved." 



334 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

► 

ed with the abomination of idolatry, injustice, lying or impos- 
ture, or any other species of iniquity, can enter there. It is a 
mansion of bliss for those only whose names are written in 
the book of life of the Lamb, that is, for those only who 
have been called and chosen by the Lamb, and whom he has 
registered in his book. Such expressions repeatedly prove 
that the city here described is the Christian Jerusalem. 

Chap. xxii. 1. " And he showed me a river of water of life, 
clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of 
the Lamb. 

V. 2. " In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides 
of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding 
its fruits every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the 
healing of the nations." 

Through this celestial abode runs a river of water of life, 
clear as crystal, which rises from the foot of the throne of God 
and the Lamb. On the banks of this river, as it runs through 
the middle of the streets, grows the tree of life, bearing twelve 
different sorts of fruit which ripen every month; the food of 
which nourishes the inhabitants, preserves their bodies from 
all tendency to corruption, and keeps them in full vigour and 
strength without the least impair for all eternity. The leaves 
even have the virtue of healing, or of securing the body against 
the least attack of sickness or disease. An emblem of this 
was the tree of life in Paradise. With such fruit and such 
water the heavenly citizens eat and drink immortality. 

V. 3. "And there shall be no curse any more: but the 
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants 
shall serve him. 

V. 4. " And they shall see his face: and his name shall be 
on their foreheads." In this blissful habitation there will be 
no curse, there will be no danger of experiencing the anger of 
God or his punishments. He and the Lamb will fix their 
throne in the midst of them, to gratify them for ever with their 
amiable presence ; while they with boundless affection will 
offer their praise and thanksgiving. Thus will the saints 
see their God face to face, and enjoy the possession of him 
with expressible and never-ceasing joy. And they will 
bear on their foreheads his name, that is, the names of God 
and the Lamb expressed in one name, as both are one God : 
and thus they will carry an honourable and distinctive mark 
of their having been the devoted servants of God and the 
Lamb. — We may observe, that in this and other places of the 
Apocalypse, where St. John names together God and the Lamb, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 335 

he always proceeds to speak of them in the singular number, 
to show the unity of Godhead. 

V. 5. " And night shall be no more : and they shall not 
need the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because 
the Lord God shall enlighten them, and they shall reign for 
ever and ever." We saw above, xxi. 23 and 25, nearly the 
same things applied to the city, which are here promised to 
the inhabitants, who will never more be troubled with the vi- 
cissitude of day and night, but will be cheered with perpetual 
day. Nor will they want a sun, a lamp, or any other created 
light ; because the Almighty himself will enlighten them with 
the glory and lustre of his divinity, and they will reign with 
him in an ocean of happiness for ever and ever. 

Thus we have seen a full description of the heavenly Jeru- 
salem, that is, of the triumphant state of the Christian Church, 
which, when once begun, will last for evermore. The saints 
here will be filled with all those gratifications that can 
soothe and make happy the soul and body. Both these com- 
ponent parts of the human individual, as they concurred to 
advance the glory of God in the world, so they will have both 
their respective objects of delight and happiness. But it must 
here be observed that, though our explication has been most 
literal, we cannot pretend to determine how far the prophet's 
glorious description of the heavenly city is to be understood in 
the literal, how far in the allegorical sense. We are certain 
that the happiness of the saints will be complete, but it is not 
allowed to man to investigate the particulars of that future 
state ; for " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it 
entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared 

for them that love him." 1 Cor. ii. 9. To return to the 

text, St. John says : 

V. 6. " And he said to me : " These words are most faith- 
ful and true." Here is the seal put to the whole preceding 
account of the heavenly Jerusalem : The angel gives testi- 
mony that it is most faithful and true, or that it will certainly 
take place, as God's word and promise cannot fail. This 
conclusion is alw r ays subjoined to those parts of the prophecy 
which treat of the ultimate state of man, namely, a happy 
eternity. Then is added, 

V. 6. " And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets 
sent his angel to show his servants the things which must be 
done shortly." That is, God who inspires the prophets or is 
the author of all prophecy, has vouchsafed to send his angel, 
St. John the Baptist, to signify the preceding prophecy of the 



336 History of the christian church. 

Apocalypse to his servants, agreeably to what was notified in 
the very beginning of it, ch. i. 1. Here then seems to terminate 
the prophetical history of the Christian Church, We have 
seen her described, in her rise, in her progress, and in the 
principal events that related to her. The whole course of her 
existence and transactions was aptly divided into seven ages, 
the last of which shows her triumphing in heaven, and 
crowned w r ith immortal glory. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CONCLUSION OF THE APOCALYPSE. 

The remaining part of the Apocalypse contains several 
useful admonitions which claim our attention, and with them 
the book concludes. 

Apoc. xxii. 7. " Behold I come quickly. Blessed is he 
that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book." Here 
Christ himself speaks : Behold I come quickly, to execute the 
things delivered in this prophecy: therefore blessed is he who 
keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book, or who attends 
to what is contained in this book, and takes warning and in 
struction from the important events therein described. The 
same admonition had been given at the beginning, i. 3 ; a 
repeated argument of the extraordinary usefulness of this book. 

V. 8. " And I John, who have heard and seen these things." 
Here St. John speaks : I John am the person that heard and 
saw all these things : by which declaration he gives testimony 
of having received from the angel the whole preceding pro- 
phecy. And then he proceeds, 

V. 8. " And after I had heard and seen, I fell down to 
adore before the feet of the angel, who showed me these 
things: 

V. 9. " And he said to me : See thou do not : for I am thy 
fello vv -servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them 
that keep the words of the prophecy of this book. Adore 
God." St. John offers, as he had done before, xix. 10, his 
homage of gratitude to the angel, St. John Baptist, who had 
'■ shown him these things." The angel refuses it, and tells 
him to offer his adoration and thanks to God, who is the au- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 337 

thor and giver of this prophecy. The angel furthermore 
plainly insinuates, that he has no title to the apostles thanks, 
nor is he of a nature superior to the apostle : for he tells him, 
he is his fellow-servant, having been formerly so on earth ; 
and fellow-servant of his brethren the prophets, that is, of the 
ministers of Christ's Church: and fellow-servant of them 
that keep the words of the prophecy of this book, that is, of 
all the faithful Christians from the beginning of Christ's 
Church to the end of time. 

V. 10. "And he saith to me: Seal not the words of the 
prophecy of this book : for the time is at hand. 51 The angel, 
or perhaps Christ, says to St. John : Seal not the words of 
this prophecy of the book j leave the book open, that every 
one may read it, and be informed of the contents ; because 
the time is at hand for their accomplishment to begin, or 
which is already begun, and which will continue successive- 
ly, till the whole be completed. 

V. II. "He that hurteth, let him hurt still : and he that is 
filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is just, let him be 
justified still : and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still." 
That is, the unjust and the wicked, who are obstinately so, 
may make haste, says Christ, to complete their injustice and 
iniquity: and the just and the holy should endeavour to 
hasten their steps in sanctifying and perfecting themselves 
more; for, 

V. 1 2. " Behold I come quickly ; and my reward is with 
me, to render to every man according to his works.' 1 Behold, 
I shall soon summon them by the writ of death, to appear be- 
fore me, says Christ, and shall reward these according to 
their merits ; and those, the impious, I shall punish in the ri- 
gour of justice, according to the measure of their iniquity* 
Let us then be prepared for the summons. 

V. 13. " I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the 
beginning and the end." Christ here attributes to himself the 
same divine qualities, which were assumed by Almighty God. 
Chap. xxi. 6. I am, says Christ, the beginning and the end. 
I existed from all eternity, and shall exist to all eternity. I 
am the creator of the universe, the conservator of it, and shall 
put an end to it. " I am the first and the last," as he had be- 
fore said, Chap. i. 17. I am prior to all mankind, they die 
and return to dust, but I am living for ever and ever. I am 
the first founder of the new Church on earth, and I shall be 
the last and eternal reward of the same. 

V. 1 4. " Blessed are they, that wash their robes in the 
29 






338 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

blood of the Lamb:* that they may have a right to the tree 
of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. 

V. 15. "Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and unchaste, 
and murderers, and servers of idols, and every one that loveth 
and maketh a lie." Christ continues to speak, and pronounces 
blessed those Christians, that wash their robes in the blood of 
the Lamb by suffering martyrdom, or by preserving them- 
selves clean from the filth of sin, and by the observance of his 
commands. These will be entitled to be admitted through 
the gates into the city, that is, into the mansions of the Christ- 
ian heavenly Jerusalem ; where they will have a right to the 
tree of life, to eat the fruit of immortality. But all those 
others will be excluded from this heavenly city, who, after the 
nature of snarling dogs, calumniate and slander their neigh- 
bour ; also, all sorcerers, unchaste, murderers, idolaters, and 
those that love and make lies, or impostors and teachers of 
false doctrine. 

V. 16. " I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these 
things in the churches." Jesus Christ here speaks and says : 
I have sent my angel, John the Baptist, to deliver to you, John 
the Apostle, this my revelation, and to give testimony to it ; 
that you may transmit it in an authentic manner to the seven 
churches of Asia, and they to others. — Christ continues, 

V. 16. "I am the root and stock of David, the bright and 
morning star." I am the root and stock or stem that spring 
from David : I am that son of David, of whom it was said : 
" The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his 
father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and 
of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke i. 32, 33. To 
me then were decreed all power and dominion : and from me 
flow the divine blessings to all nations, both of redemption 
and future immortality. These are my rights. I am also 
the bright and morning star ; the true morning star that shines 
so bright above all other stars, and that " enlighteneth every 
man that comes into the world." John i. 9. " I am that star, 
the Orient, that enlighteneth them who sit in darkness, and in 
the shadow of death." Luke i. 78, 79. I am the bright morn- 
ing star, that guides mankind to the gate of heaven. u I am 
the way, the truth, and the life." John xiv. 6. — Christ con- 
tinues, 

V. 17. "And the spirit and the bride say: Come. Ana 
he that heareth, let him say : Come. And he that thirsteth, 

♦ In the Greek, "that observes his command ments." 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHITRCH. 339 

let him come : and he that will, let him take the water of life 
freely." The Spirit or Holy Ghost, who directs the Church, 
and the bride of Christ or the Church herself, cry to me, say- 
ing : Come, hasten the general judgment, put an end to the 
labours of your servants, and admit them into the heavenly 
city. Whoever heareth this cry of the holy Spirit and the 
Church, let him also say: Come. Let every one join in the 
same request, because it is for the ultimate and greatest bless- 
ing. And if any one thirsteth after the water of life, after the 
glory which I give, let him come and meet me, let him hasten 
to me in fervour and sanctity. And he that will, let him take 
the water of life freely ; he that desires to drink of the water of 
life, and will take the pains to come at it, may have it freely 
or gratis, without money, without any other price but faith 
and good works, both which proceed from the gratuitous gift 
of my grace : for " without me you can do nothing." John xv. 
5 : when I crown your merits, I crown my own gifts. — The 
same invitation to eternal beatitude, which alone will satisfy 
all our desires, Almighty God formerly gave by his prophet 
Isaiah : " All you that thirst, come to the waters : and you 
that have no money, make haste, buy, and eat : come ye, buy 
wine and milk, without money, and without any price," lv. 1. 

V. 18. "For I testify to every one that heareth the words 
of the prophecy of this book : If any man shall add to these 
things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in this 
book. 

V. 19. " And if any man shall take away from the words of 
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of 
the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from these things 
that are written, in this book." Christ had said just before, 
v. 16, that he had sent his angel to give testimony to his pro- 
phecy; and therefore he here denounces a severe punishment 
upon all those, who shall presume to add any thing to, or de- 
tract from, this prophecy of the Apocalypse. Hence it ap- 
pears, with what respect and caution it ought to be read and 
handled. And indeed whoever has studied the Apocalypse 
with attention, must have observed the precision of it to be 
such, that a word cannot be added or retrenched without dan- 
ger of derogating from the sense. 

V. 20. " He that gives testimony of these things, saith : 
Surely, I come quickly: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Christ 
here gives testimony of these things, that is, he bears wit- 
ness and gives his sanction to all that is written in this pro- 
phecy: and then concluding, proclaims for the third time; 



340 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Surely, I come quickly ; I shall certainly come soon, for good 
and all, to judge the whole body of mankind at the last day, 
and to recompense the just, and punish the wicked. St. John 
answers his divine master : Be it so, O Lord Jesus : come, 
and grant us, your servants, the favour of enjoying you for 
all eternity. 



CHAPTER XV. 

REFLECTIONS ON THE SEVEN AGES OF THE CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH. 

Thus have we taken a view of the whole prophetic history 
of the Apocalypse. We have travelled through the whole 
tract of duration, which reaches from the rise of Christianity 
to the fixed state of eternity after the close of all time. We 
have seen the most remarkable transactions, that take place 
in the Christian Church during that whole period. And 
thus we are arrived at last to enjoy a full view of the plan of 
economy which Christ, the supreme governor, observes in the 
administration of his Church. This plan appears truly grand 
and admirable. It consists of three parts, contained under 
the seals, the trumpets, and the vials. The trumpets exhibit 
to us the painful trials he thinks fit to subject his people to. 
The vials describe the punishments which he inflicts on their 
enemies. The nature therefore of both these parts of his 
conduct towards his Church is sufficiently clear : but that of 
the seals, it must be allowed, is not so obvious, and may re- 
quire some elucidation. In the prelude to the seals the Lamb 
was introduced, all power was given him, the period of his 
sovereignty was opened, and his reign commenced. This clue 
leads us to the understanding of the general tendency of the 
seals. In them we see Christ proceed to the work of forming 
and establishing his kingdom or Church, which he carries on 
through all ages. But as every prince, who undertakes to 
conquer to himself a new kingdom, must necessarily encoun- 
ter many enemies and obstacles ; so here we see enemies rise 
up against Christ, the prince of the Christian kingdom, and 
oppose his undertaking. Thus, in the first seal, Christ sets 
out upon his conquests to form his kingdom upon earth. The 
second seal shows us the rise of a body of heretics, the Arians, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 341 

Christ's own subjects, who rebel against him, and attempt to 
wrest from him part of his kingdom. The third seal opens 
to us the scene of the subversion of pagan Rome with its em- 
pire, which is the triumph of Christ over that mighty idola- 
trous power, and the establishment of his kingdom in its place. 
In the fourth seal we see again the rise of another powerful 
enemy of Christ, namely, the Mahometan or Antichristian 
empire, which deprives him of some part of his dominions 
for a time. The fifth seal exhibits to us the martyrs of the 
fifth age, who are told that vengeance will in due time be taken 
on their persecutors, for the spilling of their blood : and in the 
mean time they are clothed with the robe of beatitude. This 
shows Christ's economy with regard t<5 these his faithful and 
valiant soldiers. Under the sixth seal we see dreadful prodi- 
gies and signs, and the heavens and the earth in confusion. 
By these, Christ, the bountiful King, alarms the impious and 
rebellious part of his people, and tries by terror to bring them 
back to their allegiance and duty, and to reform them into 
good subjects, before he comes to judge them. The seventh 
seal opens the scene, in which he completes his work by 
taking possession of the whole earth, and putting an end to 
all other power. In consequence of this he is acknowledged 
universal Lord and Master of the world, and receives the ap- 
plauses and acclamations of the heavenly choirs, who sing: 
" The kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his 
Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever." Apoc. xi. 15. 
Thus then we see described in the seals the series of Christ's 
operations for the formation and establishment of that king- 
dom which was promised him upon earth. " I beheld," says 
Daniel, " and lo one like the Son of man came with the clouds 
of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days : and they 
presented him before him. And he gave him power, and 
glory, and a kingdom: and all people, tribes, and tongues, 
shall serve him : his power is an everlasting power, that shall 
not be taken away: and his kingdom, that shall not be de- 
stroyed," vii. 13, 14. Such in fine is the abstract of the his- 
tory, that is written in detail in the book sealed with seven 
seals, where this new powerful King, the Son of man, had 
laid down before hand the whole plan of the work he design- 
ed to carry on during all future ages. 

Here it may be further proper to remark, that the prophe* 

cies contained under the seals are delivered in natural histori* 

cal language ; whereas those under the trumpets and vials art 

expressed in allegories : the reason of which seems to be, thai 

29* 



342 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

as the seals exhibit to us the abstract of a history contained 
in the book sealed with seven seals, this abstract must be sup- 
posed to be written in the same natural historical style as the 
full history itself. The style of the trumpets is allegorical, 
because, as the trumpets sound alarms, troubles, and persecu- 
tions to the Church, a previous general notion of them would 
be useful and at the same time sufficient, and such is convey- 
ed to us by obscure allegory : but a clear and minute detail of 
those calamities would naturally terrify and make too much 
impression upon the mind. Likewise, if the punishments an- 
nounced by the vials were clearly and fully expressed, such 
might be the malice and perversity of some among the guilty 
part of mankind, as to attempt to frustrate the decrees of God 
and oppose their execution. Such punishments therefore are 
purposely covered with the veil of allegory, the meaning of 
which remains more or less uncertain. 

In fine such a compass of knowledge, imparted to us through 
the channel of the Apocalypse, ought to inspire us with the 
warmest sense of gratitude for so signal a favour, and should 
be a powerful motive for making good use of it. We see laid 
open to us the course of the dispensations of God towards man ; 
and what subject can furnish us with more useful instructions, 
for admiring the bounty of this sovereign administrator, for 
contemplating his wisdom, and dreading his justice? To pro- 
mote this sort of consideration, we shall here subjoin a few 
reflections upon each of the seven ages, to which we recom- 
mend the reader to add his own. 

I. 

In the first age of the Christian Church, which compre- 
hended little more than the space of three hundred years, we 
saw the gospel preached to the greatest part of the known 
world, notwithstanding all the opposition' that earth and hell 
could contrive against it. The divine power shone in its full 
lustre, and confounded all the enemies of religion. Miracles 
were so frequent, that every day was distinguished by some 
illustrious marks of supernatural interposition. The meridi- 
an sun could not appear clearer and brighter than the divine 
power operating in favour of the new promulgated doctrine. 
In this manner Christ builded his Church on such a firm 
foundation as nothing could ever shake, and he established 
his religion by such incontestable proofs as no pretences could 
invalidate. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 343 

But the sanction of the Christian religion was not only di- 
rine and irrefragable, its influence on the minds of its profes- 
sors was altogether astonishing. It inspired them with such 
firmness of fortitude, that they were ready on all occasions to 
shed their blood in defence of it. When put to the trial, they 
resigned all temporal advantages, they were deaf to all entrea- 
ties and offers, they viewed without emotion the racks and cru- 
dest torments, and bowed down their heads with joy to the ex- 
ecutioner. Such was the behaviour of not a few only, but of 
prodigious numbers. As Adam had first yielded to sin, through 
want of courage, and infinite calamity had fallen upon all his 
posterity, it would seem that Almighty God designed that 
fault should be retrieved, as far as possible to human nature, 
by the eminent fortitude of his new servants, the Christians ; 
whom for that purpose he made pass through most severe per- 
secutions, the acutest tortures, and death itself in its most dread- 
ful shapes. Thus the earth was bathed with Christian blood, 
but the souls of the generous victims went to share immortal 
glory and power with the Lamb : " And I saw seats," says 
St. John, " and they sat upon them, and judgment was given 
unto them, and the souls of them that were beheaded for the 
testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God. — And they lived 
and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Apoc. xx. 4. The 
spirit of the Christian doctrine was no less manifest in those 
that were left on the stage of life. They appeared by the 
sanctity of their conduct to form a new community entirely 
different from the rest of mankind, and they practised such 
transcendent virtues as before were deemed impossible. Some 
entered into courses of the severest austerities, of mortifica- 
tion and fasting. Others retired into remote solitudes, conse- 
crating their whole time to God, with little or no allowance 
to nature ; spending days, weeks, and years, in contemplating 
the perfections of the Supreme Being, in meditating on his 
bountiful dispensations to mankind, and in aspiring after that 
state of bliss which they hoped to succeed to after this mortal 
life. Thus the infancy of the Church was decorated with all 
the highest ornaments of religion. This was the age of Chris- 
tian perfection : and Christ set up the most eminent models of 
all the virtues human nature is capable of, that he might make 
appear to the world the power of his grace, the excellence of 
his doctrine, and that all future ages might have before their 
eyes perfect examples for their encouragement and imitation. 

On another hand it is necessary to observe, that if such be 
the all wise economy of the Almighty to put the fidelity of 



344 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

many of his servants to the test, by conducting them through 
the fiery trials of persecution, he nevertheless views with de- 
testation the hands that inflict those severities on them. The 
persecutions crown the faith and fortitude of the sufferers. 
But the persecutors are guilty of malice and cruelty, and in 
consequence draw the divine vengeance upon them. And 
thus it happened to the heathen Roman emperors and people, 
who for spilling the Christian blood, felt, as we have seen, the 
weight of God's judgments. Many examples likewise of this 
sort in prior ages are recorded in holy writ. Among others, 
Sennacherib, the Assyrian king ; Nabuchodonosor the Baby- 
lonian, and Antiochus the Syrian, were punished by the hand 
of God for their malicious attempts, and inhumanities, against 
his people, the Jews. The course of his providence we see is 
the same under the Christian dispensation. For from the 
Apocalypse we learn, that seven vials of the wrath of God are 
poured out for the punishment of the enemies of the Christian 
Church. Ought not this reflection be sufficient to deter the 
evil-minded from directing their malice and power against the 
people of that community ? 

II. 

In the second age of the Church, which begins about the 
year 320, and contains nearly 100 years, we see rise up a 
scene of a different kind. This age may be styled the age of 
heresy. In the preceding period we saw a strenuous contest 
between religion and idolatry, between Christianity and pa- 
ganism, or as one may say, between the Almighty and Satan, 
which should claim the worship of mankind. The Almighty 
having vanquished his enemy, and exploded idolatry by 
the preaching of the Christian religion, and establishing 
the adoration of the one supreme Deity; Satan, to pursue his 
unrelenting malice, shifts his ground, and renews his strata- 
gems, still to defraud the Almighty of his right, and to rob 
him, if possible, of his favourite creature man. For that pur- 
pose this infernal fiend, by his wiles, prevails upon an ambi- 
tious man, to renounce his allegiance to Christ and submis- 
sion to Christ's Church. Arius is inspired by that spirit of 
falsehood with sentiments wholly incompatible with the di- 
vine nature and perfections of the Son of God, and by divulg- 
ing those sentiments he sows the seeds of rebellion and here- 
sy. Though some heretical principles had been set forth 
in the preceding age, yet they had been confined to narrow 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 345 

limits of place, and to a small number of abettors : but now 
they show themselves with open effrontery, they seize whole 
cities, provinces and kingdoms. They are espoused by kings, 
emperors, and bishops. The malignant spirit of heresy 
raises dissension and animosity among the Christians, the 
Church is laid waste by her own children, and the seamless 
garment of Christ is torn in pieces. The flame of division 
blazes so high, that Christians do not fear to seize the sword 
and destroy one another. And what is the utmost misfor- 
tune, great numbers are seduced into the snare of eternal per- 
dition. For, as no one escaped perishing in the deluge, who 
was not in Noah's ark, as St. Cyprian remarks, lib. de Unit 
Eccl. so no one can hope to be of the company of the saints, 
who separates himself from the unity of the Church. 

The rise of Arianism is therefore the second general alarm 
which Christ sounds to his Church, to try the fidelity of his 
people, and to give occasion of meriting a reward to those 
who remain stanch in their faith, and continue firm in fight- 
ing under his standard. The crown of immortal glory and 
happiness is of too high a value to be wholly a gratuitous gift. 
We must purchase it by labour, by suffering, by maintaining 
our fortitude and constancy in the different trials sent us by 
Providence. No one will be crowned but he that has fought 
well. 

If on one hand Christ is faithful to his promises in reward- 
ing his servants, on the other those escape not his indigna- 
tion, whether heretics or idolaters, that seduce his people by 
false doctrine, or lay waste his fold by the sword of persecu- 
tion. Thus the Arians, the strongest body of heretics that 
ever assaulted the Church, sunk in proportion to their former 
power, even so as to vanish from the face of the earth. In a 
period of about 340 years from their first appearance, they 
were no more to be found. This and the other examples of 
divine judgments, which the vials discover to us, make a con- 
vincing proof, that no nation, no collective body of people ever 
rebel against the Church, or persecute it with impunity. The 
divine vindictive hand in due time overtakes them, and for- 
ces them to acknowledge from their own sad experience, that 
Christ is the faithful protector of his Church, and the certain 
scourge of her enemies. 

III. 

The third age, which commences about the year 406, and 
contains 220 years nearly, is remarkable for the judgments of 



346 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

God upon ancient Rome and the western empire. The Al- 
mighty, who is the Creator of the universe and sole Lord of 
all, necessarily claims all homage from his creatures, nor can 
he suffer that greatest of all impieties, the transferring to any 
other being, the honour that is due to himself alone. Rome 
had sacrilegiously employed its great power for the support 
of idolatry ; it had also opposed with its whole might the 
establishment of Christ's kingdom, and had most inhumanly 
persecuted his servants, and shed the innocent blood of an 
infinite number of them. The Almighty, after such enor- 
mous provocations, at length rises up in his wrath, and pours 
down the whole torrent of it upon that guilty empire. He 
had before, as we have seen, struck those emperors, who had 
notoriously pursued the same impious and audacious courses. 
But now the sovereign punisher of iniquity sends out against 
the whole empire of Rome a multitude of barbarous people, 
who pour in upon it like fierce tigers, tear it to pieces, destroy 
its inhabitants, and demolish its cities, with Rome itself. But 
why should we wonder at this striking instance of divine 
vengeance, while we see the same plan of economy followed 
in the preceding ages ? Do we not read in the written word 
of God, that a similar fate had attended the empires and cities 
of Ninive and Babylon ? Were not Tyre and Sidon devoted 
in the same manner to destruction? Was not the opulent 
and populous kingdom of Egypt overturned and enslaved ? 
These kingdoms, cities, and several others, owed their ruin to 
an angry God, who would suffer no longer their pride, idol- 
atry and wickedness. " Behold the .eyes of the Lord God 
are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the 
face of the earth." Amos ix. 8. Nay even, he would not spare 
his chosen land and beloved seat of Jerusalem. When his 
people had renounced their fidelity to him, and adopted strange 
gods in his place, he sent upon them a scourge, Nabuchodo- 
nosor, the Babylonian king who ravaged the country, level- 
led the city and temple with the ground, destroyed by famine, 
fire and sword, a great part of the inhabitants, and the rest he 
carried into captivity. When the Jews, by their repentance, 
had recovered their favour with God, and in consequence their 
land and city, we see again, upon their new rebellion, and 
the most grievous of all iniquities, in putting to death their 
Messiah and Saviour, the wrath of God inflamed to such a 
degree, as to devote to destruction a prodigious multitude of 
them by the severest scourges that could be inflicted on man- 
kind. Their city was also entirely demolished, and the re- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 347 

mainder of the people expelled from their country, dispersed 
over the whole face of the earth, exposed as objects of de- 
rision to the rest of mankind, and continue to this day a last- 
ing- monument of the divine indignation. 

That the same course of divine providence in punishing 
wicked nations is still pursued, we learn clearly from the 
Apocalypse. Hence then appears, how necessary is the prin- 
ciple of the fear of God, and how essential it is to man to re- 
vere the sovereign Deity and respect his commands. Should 
not these considerations impress a check on the proceedings 
of princes in the administration of their governments? If 
the sovereign King of heaven and earth is not invited to share 
in their councils, but if politic views direct solely their steps 
without regard to equity, or if ambition, resentment, or any 
other passion, wholly sways their conduct, what injustices, 
what crimes, may not be the result, in the guilt of which their 
whole states become generally involved ? Then what is the 
consequence? Such national deviation from the Law of God, 
certainly provokes the divine vengeance, as appears from what 
has been said, and is the cause of the dreadful disasters that 
sooner or later befall those states, and often terminate in their 
utter ruin. How much would it be the interest of princes to 
attend to the admonition of the great and wise king David ! 
"And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you 
that judge the earth. Serve ye the Lord with fear, and re- 
joice unto him with trembling. Embrace discipline, lest the 
Lord become angry," Psalm ii. 10, &c. 

IV. 

The fourth Age comprehends a period of nine centuries, 
from about the year 620 to 1520. But if the length of this 
exceeds that of the preceding, we may observe, it is compen- 
sated by the importance of three different successive events. 
The rise of Mahomet and the Mahometan empire distin- 
guishes the first part of this period. We are astonished at 
the success of that great impostor, and at the progress his 
successors have made in conquering the world. It is like- 
wise a subject of surprise, that Christ, who is the " Prince of 
the kings of the earth," Apoc. i. 5, should suffer such an 
enemy to rise up, to establish a doctrine quite opposite to that 
he himself had taught, and to re-introduce death into the 
world by exploding the very source of salvation, the redemp- 
tion from sin. But our surprise will abate, when we consi- 



348 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

der, that those nations, which adopted this Antichristian reli- 
gion, had made themselves in great measure deservedly ob- 
noxious to so dreadful a judgment. The Christian countries 
of Asia, and Africa, and some eastern provinces in Europe, 
had been guilty of manifold inconstancy and perfidy, in relin- 
quishing the true faith to espouse the heretical and schisma- 
tical doctrines of Arius, Macedonius, Donatus, Nestorius, 
Eutyches, Pelagius, Photius, &c. while the most part of west- 
ern Christendom remained firm in their adherence to the 
unity of faith. What wonder then, if Almighty God suffered 
the Orientals to run into a precipice, who had already volun- 
tarily left the path of truth? 

The second interesting event that distinguishes this age, is 
a dismal alarm sounded to the Church, namely, the defection 
of the Greeks from the faith, which, like a great earthquake, 
shook the continent of Christendom, and severed a great 
number of fair eastern churches from the body of the faithful 
Pride, ambition, jealousy, fondness of novelty, or such like vici 
ous dispositions, are the general origin of heresies and schisms 
The Orientals suffered themselves to be guided by such pas 
sions, and in consequence they bewildered themselves in error, 
and withdrew from the communion of their Catholic brethren, 
Rebellion often grows contumacious ; and effectually they 
aggravated highly their guilt, by obstinately rejecting all 
means offered them for their reconciliation with God and his 
Church. Such a grievous and lasting provocation armed 
the avenging hand of God, which made use of the Mahome- 
tans as a scourge to punish them. This punishment, which 
proved very severe, was the third momentous transaction that 
characterized the fourth age. 

And may we not here bewail the misfortune and stubborn 
blindness of the present Greeks, who though so fully admo- 
nished by the punishment of their forefathers, under which 
they themselves lie groaning, yet remain hardened and in- 
flexible? But, what indeed is highly deplorable, our Christ- 
ian prophet had said of them ; " They did not penance to give 
God glory." — See the fourth vial. Christ, who essentially 
loves concord and union, commanded the same to be observed 
among his followers, and in that view addressed his heavenly 
Father by a special prayer. " Not for them only do I pray, 
(said he,) but for them also who through their word shall be- 
lieve in me : that they may be one, as thou (Father) in me, 
and I in thee : that they also may be one in us." John xvii. 
20, 21. To fix this necessary union and make it stable, he 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 349 

established the centre of it in one person, the person of St. 
Peter and each of his successors. " Thou art Peter," (that is 
a rock) said our Saviour, " and upon this rock I will build 
my Church." Matt. xvi. 18. He told St. Peter again on ano- 
ther occasion : " I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, 
and thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren." Luke 
xxii. 32. Here then is the centre, with which the whole cir- 
cle of the Church must be linked, and connected by the bond 
of union and faith. Whoever breaks this chain, dissolves as 
much as in him lies the work of Christ, and disunites him- 
self from the society of his brethren. Such has been the 
crime of the Greeks, who renouncing communion with the 
successor of St. Peter, have set up in his room one of their 
own bishops* equally schismatical with themselves. " Christ 
has builded his church," says St. Cyprian, "upon one, who is 
Peter : and has placed one chair. He has indeed given to 
all bishops the full participation of power equally to govern 
their flocks, all deriving their authority from Christ: but the 
beginning arises from unity in Peter." De Unit. Eccl. The 
breaking of this tie of " Unity in Peter," was the occasion of 
the heavy disasters that have fallen upon the Greeks, and 
which they continue to labour under at this day. And is 
there not further reason to apprehend that their oppressions 
will not be alleviated* if not even made heavier, as long as 
they return not to what they so criminally abandoned, the 
centre of unity in Peter ? This indeed they found clearly pre- 
dicted in the revelations of St. Bridget, who died in the year 
1373. But as to what degree of authority and credit these 
revelations may claim, we shall say nothing ourselves, but re- 
fer the reader to the learned Cardinal Lambertini, afterwards 
Pope Benedict XIV. who writes thus : " Though an assent 
of Catholic faith be not due to such revelations, they deserve 
a human assent, according to the rules of prudence, by which 
they are probable and piously credible, as the revelations of 
B. Hildegardis, St. Bridget, and St. Catherine of Sienna." 
De Canoniz. Sanct. I. 2. c. 32. n. 11. The passage in St. 
Bridget's works relating to the Greeks runs thus : " Be it 
known to the Greeks, that their empire and their kingdoms, 
or dominions, will never stand secure, nor in settled peace ; 
but that they will always be held in subjection by their ene- 
mies, from whom they will ever suffer most grievous hard- 
ships and constant distresses, until they shall have sincerely 
submitted themselves with true humility and good will to the 
Church of Rome and to her faith, conforming themselves en- 
30 



350 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCK. 

tirely to the holy ordinances and rites of that church." Re- 
vel lib. 7. c. 19. 

How certain and at the same time how terrible are the 
judgments of God ! " Who knoweth the power of thy anger : 
and for thy fear can number thy wrath ?" Psalm 89. 11> 
But we must acknowledge that " just and true are thy ways 
O King of ages." Apoe. xv. 3. The Babylonians and other 
pagan nations were the scourge of God's wrath upon the 
Jews. The barbarous nations of the north went forth, by 
virtue of a divine, sentence, against idolatrous Rome and her 
empire, both which they demolished. We then see rise up, 
about the beginning of the seventh century, a new and for- 
midable power, that of the Mahometans, a people inspired by 
the devil with an implacable hatred to the Christian name. 
These seem to be designed by the Almighty to serve as his 
instrument for chastising his rebellious and bad subjects 
among the Christians through all succeeding times. They 
enslaved the eastern countries ; and they have swallowed up 
the Con stan tin opolitan empire of the Greeks. They will 
spread havoc and destruction through the Christian Church 
in the sixth age, as we have seen in the Apocalyptical account 
of that period of time. 



The remarkable transactions that characterize the fifth 
Age, are more generally known, as they stretch to our own 
times, and touch us more nearly. The Reformation, first set 
on foot and propagated by Luther about the year 1520 or 1525, 
is the Epoch of the present age, the period of which to the 
pouring out of the Vial consists of three hundred years, of 
which two hundred and fifty are nearly elapsed.* Many 
have been the troubles, as we have seen, which the spirit of 
novelty occasioned in different parts of Christendom. The 
mischief, which the eastern part had sustained by the de- 
fection of the Greeks, was afterwards brought upon the west- 
ern by the protestants. The Church of Christ sat bewailing 
the loss of a great number of her children ; and she saw be- 
sides with unspeakable grief an endless train of disputes, dis- 
sensions, and animosities, the new heresies had given birth to. 
Several countries, particularly Germany, were subjected to 
great calamities, the consequence of wars that were kindled 

* Thia work was first printed in the year 1771. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 351 

by the same fire. Dreadful violences were committed, and 
severe persecutions followed, in which many suffered death 
for their adherence to the ancient faith. Indeed what else 
could be expected, the work being carried on by the " Angel 
of Extermination?" 

After the period of about one hundred and fifty years, by a 
special mercy of the Almighty, the severities exercised by the 
reformed against the Catholics began to abate, that spirit of 
animosity against the Mother church in some degree cooled j 
and at this day, though most of the former persecuting laws 
subsist, we have the comfort to see them less attended to, and 
not so strictly put in execution. All this was fully intimated, 
as we have seen, in the Apocalyptical account of this age. 
But though the persecutions be less rigorous in the present 
times, yet we cannot but lament to see the many temptations 
that lie in the way, to withdraw the weak, the tepid, the am- 
bitious, and the covetous, from the right path, and engage 
them in an erroneous one that suits better their inclinations. 
Hence arises a deplorable spectacle to well-thinking persons, 
of so many that choose to sacrifice their religion to some 
worldly advantages that are offered them, or to some disorder- 
ly passions which they can by their apostacy more freely 
gratify. 

The world was very sensible, that Christ had established 
his Church, fifteen hundred years before the existence of the 
reformation, and that he had communicated his spirit to her, 
by which he had solemnly promised she should be guided 
through all ages. " I will ask the Father," said Christ, " and 
he will give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with 
you for ever, the spirit of truth— And he will teach you all 
things." John xiv. 16, 17, 26. The reforming teachers came 
therefore fifteen hundred years too late, and as they presumed 
to publish a doctrine contrary to what was taught in the 
Church, its novelty became its own condemnation. Never- 
theless they were resolved to make it pass upon mankind for 
divine truth. But to effect this, they should have ascertained 
it by the intervention of miraculous works, in the same man? 
ner as the apostles had originally established Christianity. 
M Let them prove," said Tertullian, speaking of the heretics 
of his own time, " Let them prove themselves to be new 
apostles — let them produce their miracles." L. de Praescrip. 
c. 30. But the reformers never were able to procure such a 
divine sanction. 

To supply this defect, and to acquire credit to their new 



352 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

systems, what measure did they take ? They employed an 
artifice, we are sorry to say it, suggested undoubtedly by that 
angel of the bottomless pit who was their governor and guide, 
namely, to indulge human nature, by gratifying the passions, 
by allowing such freedom and latitude in the practice of virtue, 
as religion had never admitted. They banished at once all 
those mortifications, which distinguished the Christian reli^ 
gion, and were ordained by its author as the principal exer- 
cises to merit eternal life ; such as fasting, abstinence, confes- 
sion of sins, penance, &c. They pretended that all these 
practices were of no signification, that they were even intole- 
rable encroachments on Christian liberty, and that faith alone 
sufficed for salvation. By these means they let loose the hu- 
man passions, they enfranchised man from all constraint, and 
in fine, they boasted of having smoothed the way to heaven. 
But, " thy silver is turned into dross : thy wine is mingled 
with water." Isai. i. 22. For, our Saviour had said : " If any 
man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
his cross, and follow me." Matt. xvi. 24. But, instead of the 
thorny way of self-denial and the cross, they opened a path 
strewed with roses. What wonder then, if so many took them 
for their guides, and espoused their maxims ? Our Saviour 
again tells us, that " narrow is the gate, and strait is the way, 
that leadeth to life : and few there are that find it." Matt. vii. 
14. On the contrary, the new gospellers inform us, that the 
way to heaven is broad and easy ; and they offer to conduct 
us through it with little or no difficulty, because, say they, our 
Saviour took upon himself the load of hardships that should 
have been our portion, and has sustained them in our stead. 
But, " wo to them that sew cushions under every elbow : and 
make pillows for the heads of persons of every age to catch 
souls." Ezech. xiii. 18. Thus a survey of the doctrine and 
practical maxims of the reformers points out clearly to us the 
judgment we ought to pass upon their character, according to 
the criterion Christ has given us : " A good tree cannot bring 
forth evil fruit. Neither can an evil tree bring forth good 
fruit. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them " 
Matt. vii. 18, 20. 

It would be a matter of surprise, that men nursed in the 
bosom of Christianity could adopt and teach such unchristian 
doctrines, if we did not see the source of it, which lies in the 
malign influence of their perfidious instructer, Abaddon. He 
laid open the way to introduce into their minds the most 
absurd tenets, by separating them first from that Church, " the 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 353 

pillar and ground of truth," 1 Tim. iii. 15, which had been 
constituted the repository of genuine doctrine and morality. 
We cannot but lament that the perfidious prompter prevailed 
upon them to renounce the authority of that infallible guide, 
and to set up their own in its place ; and thus he prepared 
them to receive his dictates, and to change the whole system 
of the Christian faith. But novelty in faith is an infallible 
mark of heresy. The doctrinal articles of scripture are not 
to be interpreted by every man's private conceit, which 
would be infinitely various, but by the tradition derived from 
the apostles and perpetuated by their lawful successors. For 
as St. Vincent of Lerius observes : " It is the part of true 
Christian moderation not to impose one's own opinions upon 
posterity, but to adhere to what has been transmitted to us by 
our predecessors," Comm. c. 9. The same is urged very 
strongly by Tertullian : " The apostles," says he, " published 
the faith to the Gentiles, and constituted churches in every 
city ; from which the other churches derived the first prin- 
ciples of faith and seeds of doctrine ; and from which also 
other churches do daily derive in the same manner, or they 
could not possibly be true churches. For this reason then 
they have the reputation of apostolic, because they are the 
offspring of apostolic churches. For every kind mast cer- 
tainly be traced up to its original. And on this account every 
other doctrine is to be deemed false and spurious, that is not 
conformable to the truth taught by these apostolic churches." 
De Praescrip. c. 20, 21. And again : " What was first delivered, 
was the doctrine of our Lord and of truth; what is of later date, 
can be no other than the tenets of falsehood, mere fictions. 
And this observation will stand firm and immoveable against 
all novel heresies which labour under the consciousness of 
not having this antiquity to plead in their defence." Ibid. c. 31. 
But the licentious spirit of forming new tenets of faith and 
new rules of life in this fifth age, not only invaded and set 
aside the general authority of the Church of Christ, but in 
particular bent its virulence and rancour against the Church 
of Rome. The reason was plain : because the special province 
of that Church is, to oppose all innovations in faith, and to 
suppress, as far as possible, the tares that spring up among 
the good corn. Such all antiquity had acknowledged to be 
the charge committed to that Church. To that Church 
therefore the reformers owed respect and obedience ; to that 
Church, " the greatest," as St. Irenasus speaks, " the most 
ancient and known to all, founded at Rome by the two most 
30* 



354 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

glorious apostles Peter and Paul, which retains the tradition 
it received from them, and which is derived through a suc- 
cession of bishops down to us. Showing which we confound 
all who any way out of seif-conceit, love of applause, blind- 
ness of false persuasions, embrace what ought not to be 
taught. For to this Church of Rome, on account of its more 
chief presidentship, it is necessary that every church, that is, 
the faithful every where, address themselves." Lib. 3. contra. 
Harts. How happy might it have been for the reformers of 
these late times, if upon cool reflection they had applied to 
ihemselves what St. Optatus in the fourth century spoke to 
the Donatist heretics: "You cannot deny," said he, "that 
you know the episcopal chair was first given to Peter in 
the cky of Rome, in which first sat the head of the Apostles, 
Peter ; which chair was one, that all others might preserve 
unity by the union they had with it, and lest the other 
apostles should erect and defend chairs to themselves : so that 
now he is a schismatic and an offender, who sets up another 
against the only chair." Lib. 2. 

We shall here add one general observation relative to the 
plan, which Christ seems to follow in the government of his 
kingdom on earth. Whenever he permits an enemy to wrest 
from him any part of his church by heresy, schism, or infi- 
delity, we see that at the same time he proceeds to conquer 
new countries by the preaching of the Gospel, and to incorpo- 
rate them in his dominions. From the first foundation of his 
kingdom he " went forth conquering that he might conquer," 
Apoc. vi. 2; which he continues to do through all ages. 
Thus the breaches made in his church by the heresy of Arius 
and the Greek schism, he repaired by the conversion of new 
nations to the faith : as may be seen in ecclesiastical history. 
But never was this economy more remarkable than at the 
time of the rise of the reformation. For, about that period, 
the new great continent of America was discovered, and the 
Catholic faith carried thither, and diffused over vast countries 
of it. About the same time the Gospel was also announced to 
the distant people of the great empire of China with prodigious 
success ; it was likewise carried into the kingdom of Japan, 
and into most of those immense tracts of land and the islands, 
comprised under the name of the East Indies, where the 
preaching of zealous ministers sent by the apostolic see con- 
verted multitudes of people, and thus greatly enlarged the do- 
minions of Christ's kingdom. If then the late heresies, under 
the denomination of the reformed religion, have lopped off a 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 355 

considerable portion of country in Europe from the Catholic 
Church, the loss has been abundantly retrieved by the acces- 
sion of much larger regions elsewhere that have embraced 
her communion. 

In regard to the vial of this age, we shall add nothing 
more, to what has been said of it in its place, than the follow- 
ing admonition. If the true servants of God, faithful members 
of the Catholic Church, observe that towards fifty years from 
the present date,* the state of kingdoms and the course of 
public affairs seem to presage the approaching effusion of the 
fifth vial, accordingly as we have intimated, then " Go out 
from her, my people : that you be not partakers of her sins, 
and that you receive not of her plagues, "Apoc. xviii. 4 : 
fly from the countries of wrath and perdition. 

VI. 

The sixth Age is the last of the Christian Church militant 
on earth. The time of its commencement cannot be ascer- 
tained, much less its final period, that is, the day of judgment, 
which, as our Saviour says, "no man knoweth, neither the 
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father." Mark xiii. 
32. Among various sentiments touching the duration of this 
world, that seems to have prevailed most, which fixes its pe- 
riod at about six thousand years : but as all is uncertain w 7 ith 
respect to this point, we shall not trouble the reader with any 
discussion about it. The Apocalyptical description of the 
sixth age paints it in colours, that leave no doubt it will be 
the most turbulent, the most calamitous, and most persecuting 
of all other ages. How alarming and how terrible will ap- 
pear those extraordinary and unnatural signs in the sun, 
moon, and stars, the earthquakes, the enormous swellings and 
roarings of the sea, the bloody wars and battles, &c. ! Both 
our Saviour in the Gospel and St. John, in the Apocalypse, 
express sufficiently the impression these calamities will 
make on mankind, by saying, " that men will sink away for 
fear, and call upon the mountains to fall upon them and cover 
them." How dreadful will be the destruction made by the 
terrible army of Antichrist ! How cruel and bloody his per- 
secution, which will last three years and an half! These 
shocking events, which throw confusion in the whole system 
of nature, will be certain presages of the approaching dissolu- 

+ Printed 1771. 



356 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

tion of the whole structure of the world. Happy those men, 
who shall take due warning from them, and shall consider 
them in a true light. 

And here we ought tc acknowledge the particular favour 
the Almighty God is phased to grant us, in giving us pre- 
vious notice of the disasters attending the sixth age, that we 
may prepare for them. And this duty is the more incumbent 
on us, since we touch so near that period, that the next gene- 
ration or next but one, will probably see some part of it. For 
after the fifth vial is poured out, which we have shown will 
be done about fifty years hence,* we do not know how soon 
the commencement of the sixth age may follow. There even 
seem to appear already some indications of the approach of 
that* period. For the Almighty, in his wisdom and mercy, 
before he pours down heavy disasters, generally sends lesser 
calamities by the way of admonition : and thus we see in 
these present times greater irregularities in the seasons of the 
year than used to be, more dearth and distress, earthquakes 
more frequent, &c. all which may be esteemed a prelude to 
those much more dreadful disasters of the next age. Who 
would not then judge it highly necessary that parents should 
prevent their children of such unparalleled calamities that are 
to happen, and which it may be their lot to share in. They 
should be made acquainted with the principal transactions of 
the next age, as they are recorded in the Apocalypse. For 
disasters, when foreseen, generally make less impression. 
The pastors of the Church will probably think it expedient 
to inculcate the same to their flocks, because those who shall 
exist in the next age, ought to be prepared and fortified in a 
peculiar manner with a lively faith, with the love of God, and 
an ardent desire of their own salvation. Since many of them 
may be destined, by divine appointment, to pass through a 
most severe trial in the persecution of Antichrist, they cannot 
be too well grounded in the above-mentioned principles. The 
account we have from St. John and the prophet Daniel of that 
persecution, indicates, it will surpass in violence and cruelty 
all the persecutions of the first age of Christianity : what de- 
gree of fortitude therefore must be requisite to support the 
faithful on so trying an occasion? "The Church now ad- 
monishes you," says St. Cyril, " and announces to you the 
things that relate to Antichrist before they come to pass. 
Whether they will happen in our time or later, we know not : 

♦Printed 1771. 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 357 

t>ut, as you are prevented of them, it is fit you should prepare 
yourself." Catech. 15. 

Let the history of former persecutions be assiduously read, 
in order to acquire some idea of them, with which when the 
mind is familiarized, they will appear less terrible. Prepared 
by these means, and animated by the influx of divine grace, 
the faithful servants of God will hope to be able to undergo 
the same hardships and sufferings, which the primitive Christ- 
ians sustained, and of which we read in St. Paul the follow- 
ing description : — " Some were racked," says he, — " Others 
had trials of mockeries and stripes, moreover also of bonds 
and prisons. They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they 
were tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they 
wandered about in sheep-skins, in goat-skins, being in want, 
distressed, afflicted: of whom the world was not worthy: 
wandering in deserts, in mountains, and in dens, and in caves 
of the earth." Ep. to the Hebr. xi. 35, &c. Let especially a 
diligent and repeated perusal be made of the trials of the 
martyrs : that by viewing their invincible fortitude and con- 
stancy, the faithful may be inspired with the same spirit. 
They will see with what courage the primitive Christians 
appeared before the tribunals of the pagan judges, with what 
noble fortitude they answered to the questions put to them, 
with what unconcern they viewed the racks and other instru- 
ments prepared for their torture, with what inflexibility they 
continued to profess their faith in the midst of torments, and 
with what resolution they bowed down their heads under the 
hand of the executioner. "We say we are Christians," says 
Tertullian, " and proclaim it to the whole world ; and under 
the hands of the executioner, and in the midst of all the tor- 
ments you inflict upon us, to compel us to unsay it. Torn 
and mangled, and weltering in our blood, we cry out as loud 
as we are able : that we are worshippers of God through 
Christ." Apol. c. 21. Those invincible heroes of antiquity, 
who thus sealed their faith with their blood, are the models 
we must set before our eyes, and which we must copy after. 
They had always in view that heavenly recompense which 
waited for them after their combat, and which infinitely sur- 
passed whatever they could suffer in this world. They said 
to themselves, " the sufferings of this time are not worthy to 
De compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in 
us." Rom. viii. 18. They recollected what our Saviour had 
said: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer 
— Be faithful unto death: and I will give thee the crown 



358 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 

of life." Apoc. ii. 10. And again: "Blessed are ye when 
they shall revile you, and persecute you. — Be glad and re- 
joice, for your reward is very great in heaven." Matt. v. 11, 12. 
This heavenly prospect animated their courage and sweeten- 
ed their torments. They had likewise before their eyes the 
divine pattern of their Lord and Saviour, who had trodden 
the same path before them for their encouragement. And 
what homage can be more acceptable to him, than to offer 
our lives to him who laid down his for our sake? How 
beautiful a spectacle in the sight of God is a Christian enter- 
ing the lists with affliction, and with a noble constancy com* 
bating menaces, racks and tortures ! When like a conqueror 
he triumphs over the judge that condemns him. For he is 
certainly victorious who obtains what he fights for. Min. 
Fel. in Octav. Full of such thoughts and sentiments, and 
inspired with interior joy, those champions congratulated one 
another on the view of their approaching triumph, saying : 
the persecutor wrests from us our lands, but heaven is open 
to us : the enemy of Christ threatens, but Christ protects us. 
They put us to death, but we are crowned with immortality ; 
by killing us they deprive us of this world, but paradise is 
offered us in its stead : our temporal life is extinguished, but 
is changed into eternal. Cyprian de exhort, mart. c. 12. 
Such ought to be the reflections of those who shall exist in 
the next age. The complexion of that period w T ill be similar 
to that of the first age under the persecuting Roman emperors, 
and will exceed it in violence and cruelty. The consideration 
therefore of the behaviour of the primitive Christians is the 
best preparation that can be recommended to their successors 
in the last age. Let them add to it another reflection, which 
should never be absent from their mind, namely, the immortal 
glory and happiness, which Christ expressly promises and 
describes as the portion of all those who shall sacrifice to him 
their lives in the persecution of Antichrist. " These are they 
who are come out of the great tribulation, and have washed 
their robes, and have made them w T hite in the blood of the 
Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and 
they serve him day and night in his temple : and he, that 
sitteth on the throne, shall dwell over them. They shall no 
more hunger or thirst, neither shall the sun fall on them or 
any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, 
shall rule them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the 
waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes." Apoc, vii. 14, &c, 



HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 359 

Besides the reasons we have given above, the necessity of 
beginning to inculcate the preceding lessons to the present 
rising generation appears the more, when we consider the 
general decay of religion which now prevails. So little is 
the practice of morality attended to, so little even is religion 
thought of, that we see already no small progress made to- 
wards that apostacy, as St. Paul calk it, or towards that 
general defection from faith, and that degeneracy of morals, 
which will take place before the great minister of Satan, An- 
tichrist, appears. How swift indeed must be the decline of 
true faith, while free-thinking grows at such a pace? While 
every one seems to fix it as a principle, to believe nothing 
more than his reason comprehends, or that coincides with 
his own private humour ? What practice of morality can 
we expect from people, who are immersed in wordly plea- 
sures, or in pursuits of private interest, who never spend a 
moment of thought about eternity, nor scarce ever address 
their God and Creator in a short prayer ? And is not this 
the general course of life of the present generation of man- 
kind ? Certainly then, due care should be taken to prevent 
as many of the new rising race as possible from being infect- 
ed by this pestiferous corruption, and to prepare them to be 
enrolled in the list of the few elect of the approaching time. 
When a tide of irreligion and infidelity has broken in, and is 
seen to swell every day, what wonder if the period approach, 
when God will bring all to the test, and try them as metal in 
a fiery furnace, in order to discriminate between the good and 
the bad, and to separate the sound from the unsound grain? 
The few that will remain firm and stanch under all tempta- 
tions and persecution, will shine with great lustre in those 
days, when the bulk of mankind will suffer themselves to be 
seduced so far, as to go over to Antichrist, adore him as a 
God, and renounce their Creator, their religion, and their own 
conviction. Notwithstanding the great power of Antichrist, 
and his faculty of performing surprising wonders, the small 
body of the faithful will bear away the palm of victory, by 
their constancy in maintaining the cause of God at the ex- 
pense of their lives, and by their fortitude in not yielding to 
promises, threats, or torments. And thus the fruit of their 
perseverance will be, to see their victory completed, and the 
cause of religion fully vindicated, by the just judgments of 
God upon the impious, when he will exterminate in the most 
public and terrible manner that satanic man, Antichrist, with 



360 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

his associates, and will extirpate idolatry from the earth, and 
restore peace to his Church. 

To these reflections we shall add one remark, that of the 
six vials of the wrath of God, hitherto considered, three, 
namely, the first, third, and sixth, are poured out for the pu* 
nishment of idolaters, and the other three, viz. the second, 
fourth, and fifth, for the punishment of heretics. 

VII. 

The seventh age is the last and longest of all. It is the 
age of eternity. We see it ushered in by the tremendous 
scene of the general judgment of mankind; of whom a part 
are admitted into the heavenly Jerusalem or everlasting bliss, 
and the other or greater part are doomed to suffer inexpressi- 
ble torments for all eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone. 
Whoever will take the pains to meditate a little on the great 
disparity of these two states, will certainly be moved, if he 
has not lost all sensibility, to use his utmost endeavours to 
gain the one and prevent his falling into the other. Both the 
happiness of the saved, and the torments of the damned, far 
surpass indeed our conception ; but if they be even consi- 
dered only in a general view, who would not shudder at the 
thought of being condemned to an eternal prison, in devour* 
ing flames that will never be extinguished ? " Which of you 
Can dwell with devouring fire ? which of you can dwell with 
everlasting burnings?" Isai. xxxiii. 14. And on the other 
hand, if we reflect on the possession of God, the source of all 
delight, joy, and felicity ; with which we shall be filled ac 
cording to the whole capacity of our being, and this without 
even the least interruption or allay, are we not transported 
with the most vehement desire of attaining such a happy 
state? "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy 
house ; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy 
pleasure." Psal. xxxv. 9. To this all-happy state let us then 
M by our good works make our election secure." Let us spare 
no pains for it during the short period of our existence here. 
The recompense will infinitely exceed our labour, and the 
time of our labour bears no proportion to eternity. 






HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 361 



CONCLUSION. 

Thus have we seen the whole history of the Church of 
Christ traced from her birth through her various difficulties 
and trials, through her persecutions from idolaters, and con- 
vulsions by heresies ; under all which, she shone bright like 
the sun by the vigour of her faith and fortitude : nor was it 
in the power of hell and earth, though combined together, to 
crush her or hinder her growth. We have had a view of the 
admirable economy, according to which Christ rules this his 
Church ; we have seen the special care with which he pro- 
tects her, and with what severity he punishes those who dare 
injure her. By these means he makes her triumph over all 
her enemies, even in this world; and her victory will be 
finally crowned with that transcendant and ineffable glory to 
which she will be raised at that period when time shall be no 
more. 

Hence it appears, that if to the history of the Apocalypse 
we add the books of the Old Testament, there rises a general 
history of the Church, or people of God, through the whole 
period of the existence of mankind. The book of Genesis 
gives us the creation of the first man ; and his history, with 
that of the patriarchs and the Israelites, is related in that and 
the subsequent books of the old scripture, with some short in- 
tervals of interruption, down to the birth of Christianity. Then 
begins the Apocalyptical account of the Christians, successors 
to the Jews ; which carries on their history to the end of time, 
and even to their migration into the heavenly Jerusalem, where 
it places them in the unchangeable state of never-ending bliss. 

Nothing further now remains but to request, that this pre- 
sent history may be received by the readers in that view for 
which it was intended, namely, for their instruction. They 
are now become sensible, we presume, of the utility of study- 
ing the Apocalypse. And what indeed can be more express 
on that head than the declaration of Christ himself, which we 
beg leave here to repeat : " Blessed is he, that readeth and 
heareth the words of this prophecy : and keepeth those things 
which are written in it." Apoc. i. 3. And again : " Blessed 
is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book." 
Apoc. xxii. 7. That this advice may be attended to is our 
sincere wish, and here we close the present work with the 
blessing delivered in the last verse of this admirable prophecy : 
" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." 
31 



362 THE APOCALYPSE. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

f£j" In the preceding explanation, the different parts of the Apocalypse 
having been related in a transposed order, we here subjoin the whole text 
by itself. And at the end of each verse the page is marked where that 
verse is explained ; except with regard to the second and third chapters, 
which not appertaining to the general history of the Church, have not 
been explained. 



THE 

APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN, 

THE 

APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, 
to make known to his servants, the things which must shortly- 
come to pass ; and signified, sending by his angel, to his ser- 
vant John. See p. 15. 

2. Who hath given testimony to the word of God, and the 
testimony of Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath seen. 
p. 15. 

3. Blessed is he, that readeth and heareth the words of this 
prophecy ; and keepeth those things which are written in it. 
For the time is at hand. p. 17. 

4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia, Grace 
be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that 
is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before the 
throne, p. 17. 

5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the 
first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the 
earth : who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
his own blood, p. 18. 

6. And hath made us a kingdom and priests to God and 
his Father : to him be glory and empire for ever and ever. 
Amen. p. 18. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 363 

7. Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall 
see him, and they also that pierced him. And all the tribes 
of the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. Even 
so. Amen. p. 19. 

8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith 
the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the 
Almighty, p. 19. 

9. I John your brother and your partner in tribulation, and 
in the kingdom, and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the island, 
which is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the tes- 
timony of Jesus, p. 20. 

10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind 
me a great voice, as of a trumpet, p. 20. 

11. Saying: What thou seest, write in a book: and send 
to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, and to 
Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, 
and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. p. 20. 

12. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me : And 
being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: p. 21. 

13. And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one 
like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the 
feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle: p. 21. 

14. And his head and his hairs were white, like white wool, 
and as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, jp, 21- 

1 5. And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning fur- 
nace: And his voice as the sound of many waters: p. 21. 

16. And he had in his right hand seven stars. And from 
his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword : and his face 
was as the sun shineth in his power. p. 21. 

17. And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead. 
And he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not : I am 
the first and the last ; p. 22. 

18. And alive, and was dead; and behold I am living 
for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hell. 
p. 22. 

19. Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and 
which are, and which must be done hereafter, p. 23. 

20. The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in 
my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks : The seven 
stars are the angels of the seven churches : And the seven 
candlesticks are the seven churches, p. 25. 



364 THE APOCALPYSE. 



CHAPTER II. 



Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These 
things, saith he, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, 
who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. 

2. I know thy works and thy labour, and thy patience, and 
how thou canst not bear them that are evil ; and thou hast 
tried them, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast 
found them liars : 

3. And thou hast patience, and hast endured for my name, 
and hast not fainted. 

4. But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left 
thy first charity. 

' 5. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen : and 
do penance, and do the first works. Or else I come to thee, 
and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do 
penance. 

6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Ni- 
colaites, which I also hate. 

7. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches : To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat 
of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God. 

8. And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write : These 
things saith the First and the Last, who was dead, and is 
alive : 

9. I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art 
rich : and thou art blasphemed by them that say they are 
Jews and are not, but are the synagog-ue of Satan. 

10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. 
Behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison that you 
may be tried : and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be 
thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. 

11. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches : he that shall overcome, shall not be hurt by 
the second death. 

12. And to the angel of the church of Pergamus write: 
These things saith he, that hath the sharp two-edged sword : 

13. I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan 
is : and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my 
faith. Even in those days when Antipas was my faithful wit- 
ness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 

14. But I have against thee a few things: because thou 



THE APOCALYPSE. 365 

hast there, them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught 
Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, 
to eat, and commit fornication : 

15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the 
Nicolaites. 

16. In like manner do penance: or else I will come to thee 
quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my 
mouth. 

1 7. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches : To him, that overcometh, I will give the 
hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the 
counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he 
that receiveth it 

18. And to the angel of the church of Thyatira, write: 
These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like to 
a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass. 

19. I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and 
thy ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works which are 
more than the former. 

20. But I have against thee a few things: because thou 
sufFerest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, 
to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and 
to eat of things sacrificed to idols. 

21. And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and 
she will not repent of her fornication. 

22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed: and they, that com- 
mit adultery with her, shall be in very great tribulation, ex- 
cept they do penance for their deeds : 

23. And I will kill her children with death, and all the 
churches shall know that I am he, that searcheth the reins 
and hearts; and will give to every one of you according to 
your works. But to you I say, 

24. And to the rest who are at Thyatira : Whosoever have 
not this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of 
Satan, as they say, I will not put upon you any other burden. 

25. Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come. 

26. And he, that shall overcome and keep my works unto 
the end, I will give him power over the nations. 

27. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the 
vessel of a potter they shall be broken. 

28. As I also have received of my Father : and I will give 
him the morning star. 

29. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches. 

31* 



366 THE APOCALYPSE. 



CHAPTER III. 



And to the angel of the church of Sardis write : These 
things saith he, that hath the seven spirits of God, and the 
seven stars : I know thy works, that thou hast the name of 
being alive : and thou art dead. 

2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, 
which are ready to die. For I find not thy works full before 
my God. 

3. Have in mind therefore in what manner thou hast re- 
ceived and heard : and observe, and do penance. If then thou 
shalt not watch, I will come to thee as a thief; and thou shalt 
not know at what hour I will come to thee. 

4. But thou hast a few names in Sardis, which have not 
defiled their garments : and they shall walk with me in white, 
because they are worthy. 

5. He, that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white 
garments, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of 
life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before 
his angels. 

6. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches. 

7. And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia write : 
These things saith the Holy one and the True one, he that 
hath the key of David ; he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; 
shutteth, and no man openeth. 

8. I know thy works. Behold, I have given before thee 
a door opened which no man can shut : because thou hast a 
little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied 
my name. 

9. Behold, I will bring them of the synagogue of Satan, 
who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie : Behold, I 
will make them to come and adore before thy feet : and they 
shall know that I have loved thee. 

10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I 
will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall 
come upon the whole world to try them that dwell upon the 
earth. 

11. Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou 
hast, that no man take thy crown. 

12. He, that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in 
the temple of my God : and he shall go out no more : and I 



THE APOCALYPSE. 367 

will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of 
the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down 
out of heaven from my God, and my new name. 

1 3. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches. 

14 And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write: 
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, 
who is the beginning of the creation of God. 

15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: 
I would thou wert cold or hot. 

16. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor 
hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. 

17. Because thou sayest: I am rich, and made wealthy, 
and have need of nothing ; and knowest not, that thou art 
wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. 

18. I counsel thee to buy of my gold fire-tried, that thou 
mayest be made rich : and mayest be clothed in white gar- 
ments, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear : 
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. 

19. Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous 
therefore, and do penance. 

20. Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man 
shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in 
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

21. To him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with me 
in my throne : as I also have overcome, and am set down 
with my Father in his throne. 

22. He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
to the churches. 



CHAPTER IV. 

After these things I looked, and behold a door was open- 
ed in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, as it were of 
a trumpet speaking with me, said : Come up hither, and I will 
show thee the things which must be done hereafter, p. 23. 

2. And immediately I was in the spirit ; and behold there 
was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne one sitting. 
p. 24. 

3. And he that sat was to the sight like the jasper and 
the sardine-stone ; and there was a rainbow round about the 
throne, in sight like unto an emerald, p. 24. 



368 THE APOCALYPSE. 

4. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats ; 
and upon the seats, four and twenty ancients sitting, clothed in 
white garments, and on their heads were crowns of gold. 
p. 24. 

5. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, and voices, 
and thunders ; and there were seven lamps burning before 
the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. p. 24. 

6. And in the sight of the throne was as it were a sea of 
glass like to chrystal ; and in the midst of the throne and 
round about the throne were four living creatures full of eyes 
before and behind, p. 25. 

7. And the first living creature was like a lion ; and the 
second living creature like a calf; and the third living crea- 
ture, having the face as it were of a man : and the fourth living 
creature was like an eagle flying, p. 25. 

8. And the four living creatures, had each of them six 
wings : and round about and within they are full of eyes. p. 
25. And they rested not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, 
Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is 
to come. p. 26. 

9. And when those living creatures gave glory and honour 
and benediction to him, that sitteth on the throne, who liveth 
for ever and ever, p. 26. 

10. The four and twenty ancients fell down before him that 
sitteth on the throne, and adored him that liveth for ever and 
ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: p. 26. 

11. Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory 
and honour and power : because thou hast created all things, 
and for thy will they were, and have been created, p. 26. 



CHAPTER V. 

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, 
a book written within and without,- sealed with seven seals. 
p. 26. 

2. And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud 
voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the 
seals thereof? p. 27. 

3. And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, 
nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. p. 27. 

4. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy 
to open the book, nor to see it. p. 27. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 

5. And one of the ancients said to me : Weep not ; behold 
the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed 
to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof, p. 27. 

6. And I saw : and behold in the midst of the throne and 
of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, 
a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and 
seven eyes ; which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth 
into all the earth, p. 28. 

7. And he came, and took the book out of the right hand 
of him that sat on the throne, p. 28. 

8. And when he had opened the book, the four living crea- 
tures, and the four and twenty ancients, fell down before the 
Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full 
of odours, which are the prayers of saints, p. 28. 

9. And they sung a new canticle, saying : Thou art wor- 
thy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: 
because thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in thy 
blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, 
p. 28. 

10. And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, 
and we shall reign on the earth, p. 28. 

1 1. And I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round 
about the throne, and the living creatures and the ancients : 
and the number of them was thousands of thousands, p. 29. 

12. Saying, with a loud voice: The Lamb, that was slain, 
is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction, p. 29. 

13. And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the 
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
all that are in them : I heard all saying : To him that sitteth 
on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction and honour, and 
glory and power, for ever and ever. p. 30. 

14. And the four living creatures # said, Amen. And the 
four and twenty ancients fell down on their faces, and adored 
him that liveth for ever and ever. p. 30. 



CHAPTER VI. 

And I saw, that the Lamb had opened one of the seven 
seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, as it were 
the voice of thunder, saying, Come and see. p. 31. 

2. And I saw : and behold a white horse, and he that sat 



370 THE APOCALYPSE. 

on him had a bow, and there was a crown given him, and he 
went forth conquering that he might conquer, p. 31. 

3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the 
second living creature, saying : Come and see. p. 72. 

4. And there went out another horse, that was red; and to 
him that sat thereon, it was given that he should take peace 
from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and a 
great sword was given him. p. 75. 

5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the 
third living creature, saying : Come and see. And behold a 
black horse, and he that sat on him, had a pair of scales in 
his hand. p. 86. 

6. And I heard as it were the voice in the midst of the 
four living creatures, saying: Two pounds of wheat for a 
penny, and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny, and see 
thou hurt not the wine and the oil. p. 86. 

7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the 
voice of the fourth living creature, saying : Come and see. 
p. 116. 

8. And behold a pale horse : and he that sat upon him, his 
name was Death, and hell followed him. And power was 
given him over the four parts of the earth, to kill with sword, 
with famine, and with death, and with the beasts cf the earth. 
p. 116. 

9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the 
souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the 
testimony which they held. p. 135. 

10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, 
O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and revenge our 
blood on them that dwell on the earth? p. 135. 

11. And white robes were given to every one of them one; 
and it was said to them, that they should rest yet for a little 
time, till their fellow-servants, and their brethren, who are to 
be slain, even as they, should be filled up. p. Y35. 

12. And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal: and 
behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became 
black as sackcloth of hair ; and the whole moon became as 
blood: p. 187. 

13. And the stars from heaven fell on the earth, as the fig 
tree casteth its green figs when it is shaken by a great wind 
p. 187. 

14. And the heaven departed as a book folded up: and 
every mountain, and the islands were moved out of their 
places, p. 187. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 371 

15. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the 
tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every bond-man, 
and every free-man, hid themselves in the dens and in the 
rocks of mountains: p. 187. 

16. And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall 
upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: p. 187. 

17. For the great day of their wrath is come, and who shall 
be able to stand? p. 188. 



CHAPTER VII. 

After these things I saw four angels standing on the 
four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, 
that they should not blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, 
nor on any tree. p. 252. 

2. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of 
the sun, having the sign of the living God; and he cried 
with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to 
hurt the earth and the sea. p. 252. 

3. Saying : Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, 
till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads, p. 252. 

4. And I heard the number of them that were signed, a 
hundred forty-four thousand were signed of every tribe of the 
children of Israel, p. 252. 

5. Of the tribe of Juda, were twelve thousand signed. Of 
the tribe of Ruben, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe of 
Gad, twelve thousand signed, p. 253. 

6. Of the tribe of Aser, twelve thousand signed. Of the 
tribe of Nepthalia, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe of 
Manassee, twelve thousand signed, p. 253. 

7. Of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand signed. Of the 
tribe of Levi, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe of Issa- 
char, twelve thousand signed, p. 253. 

8. Of the tribe of Zabulon, twelve thousand signed. Of 
the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand signed. Of the tribe of 
Benjamin, twelve thousand signed, p. 253. 

9. After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could 
number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues * 
standing before the throne, and in the sight of the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands : p. 278. 

10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation 



372 THE APOCALYPSE. 

to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. p. 
278. 

11. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and 
the ancients, and the four living creatures ; and they fell down 
before the throne upon their faces, and adored God, p. 279. 

12. Saying, Amen, Benediction, and glory, and wisdom, 
and thanksgiving, honour, power, and strength to our God 
for ever and ever. Amen. p. 279. 

13. And one of the ancients answered, and said to me: 
These that are clothed in white robes, who are they ? and 
whence came they ? p. 279. 

14. And I said to him : My Lord, thou knowest. And he 
said to me : These are they who are come out of great tribu- 
lation, and have washed their robes, and have made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. p. 279. 

15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they 
serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on 
the throne, shall dwell over them. p. 279. 

16. They shall no more hunger and thirst, neither shall 
the sun fall on them, nor any heat p. 280. 

17. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, 
shall rule them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the 
waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes. p. 280. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence 
in Heaven, as it were for half an hour. p. 311. 

2. And I saw seven angels standing in the presence of God : 
and there were given to them seven trumpets, p. 34. 

3. And another angel came, and stood before the altar, 
having a golden censer : and there was given to him much 
incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon 
the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. p. 35. 

4. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the 
saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel. 
p. 35. 

5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire 
of the altar, and cast it on the earth, and there were thun- 
ders and voices and lightnings, and a great earthquake. 
p. 35. 






THE APOCALYPSE. 373 

6. And the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, pre- 
pared themselves to sound the trumpet, p. 36. 

7. And the first angel sounded the trumpet, and there fol- 
lowed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and it was cast on 
the earth, and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and 
the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass 
was burnt up. p. 36. 

8. And the second angel sounded the trumpet : and as it 
were a great mountain burning with fire, was cast into the 
sea, and the third part of the sea became blood : p. 74. 

9. And the third part of those creatures died, which had life 
in the sea, and the third part of the ships was destroyed, p. 74. 

10. And the third angel sounded the trumpet: and a great 
star fell from heaven, burning as it were a torch, and it fell 
on the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of wa- 
ters: p. 86, 

11. And the name of the star is called wormwood. And 
the third part of the waters became wormwood : and many- 
men died of the waters, because they were made bitter, p. 87. 

12. And the fourth angel sounded the trumpet: and the 
third part of the sun was smitten : and the third part of the 
moon, and the third part of the stars, so that the third part of 
them was darkened, and the day did not shine for a third part 
of it, and the night in like manner, p. 125. 

13. And I beheld, and heard the voice of one eagle flying 
through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice: Wo, 
wo, wo to the inhabitants of the earth : by reason of the rest 
of the voices of the three angels who are yet to sound the 
trumpet, p. 140. 



CHAPTER IX. 

And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet : and I saw a star 
fall from heaven unto the earth, and there was given to him 
the key of the bottomless pit. p. 142. 

2. And he opened the bottomless pit : and the smoke of the 
pit arose as the smoke of a great furnace : p. 143, and the sun 
and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit. p. 144. 

3. And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts 
upon the earth, p. 147. And power was given to them, as 
the scorpions of the earth have power: p. 150. 

4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt 

32 



374 THE APOCALYPSE. 

the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree : but 
only the men who have not the sign of God on their fore- 
heads, p. 150. 

5. And it was given unto them that they should not kill 
them ; but that they should torment them five months : and 
their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh 
a man. p. 152. 

6. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not 
find it : and they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from 
them. p. 154. 

7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses pre- 
pared for battle : p. 1 56, and on their heads were as it were 
crowns like gold: p. 165, and their faces were as the faces of 
men. p. 166. 

8. And they had hair as the hair of women: p. 168, and 
their teeth were as the teeth of lions, p. 169. 

9. And they had breast-plates as breast-plates of iron : p. 170. 
And the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots of 
many horses running to battle, p. 171. 

10. And they had tails like to scorpions, and there were 
stings in their tails : and their power was to hurt men five 
months, p. 172. And they had over them 

11. A king, the angel of the bottomless pit: whose name 
in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon, in Latin Ex- 
terminans, (that is, destroyer.) p. 172. 

12. One wo is past, p. 182, and behold there come yet two 
woes more hereafter, p. 226. 

13. And the sixth angel sounded the trumpet, and I heard 
a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is be- 
fore the eyes of God. p. 226. 

1 4. Saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet : Loose 
the four angels, who are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
p. 226. 

15. And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared 
for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year : for to kill 
the third part of men. p. 226. 

1 6. And the number of the army of horsemen was twenty 
thousand times ten thousand. And I heard the number of 
them. p. 226. 

17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: and they, 
that sat on them, had breast-places of fire and of hyacinth 
and of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were as the 
heads of lions ; and from their mouths proceeded fire, and 
smoke and brimstone, p. 226. 






THE APOCALYPSE. 375 

18. And by these three plagues were slain the third part 
of men, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone, 
which issued out of their mouths, p. 226. 

19. For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in 
their tails. For, their tails are like to serpents, and have 
heads : and with them they hurt. p. 227. 

20. And the rest of the men, who were not slain by these 
plagues, did not do penance for the works of their hands that 
they should not adore devils and idols of gold and silver and 
brass and stone and wood, which neither can see, nor hear, 
nor walk : p. 277. 

21. Neither did they penance from their murders, nor 
from their sorceries, nor from their fornication, nor from their 
thefts, p. 277. 



CHAPTER X. 

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, 
clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head, and his 
face Was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. p. 222. 

2. And he had in his hand a little book open : and he set 
his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth, p. 223. 

3. And he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth. 
And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 
y. 223. 

4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, 
I was about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven say- 
ing to me : Seal up the things which the seven thunders have 
spoken, and write them not. p. 223. 

5. And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and 
upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, p. 224. 

6. And he swore by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 
created heaven, and the things which are therein : and the 
earth, and the things which are in it : and the sea, and the 
things which are therein; that there should be time no 
longer: p. 224. 

7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when 
he shall begin to sound the trumpet, the mystery of God should 
be finished, as he hath declared by his servants the prophets. 
p. 224. 

8. And I heard a voice from heaven again speaking to me, 
saying: Go and take the book, that is open, from the hand 



376 THE APOCALYPSE. 

of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 
p. 224. 

9. And I went to the angel, saying unto him, that he should 
give me the book. And he said to me : Take the book and 
eat it up : and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth 
it shall be sweet as honey, p. 225* 

10. And I took the book from the hand of the angel, and 
eat it up : and it was in my mouth, sweet as honey : and when 
I had eaten it, my belly was bitter, p. 225. 

1 1. And he said to me, thou must prophesy again to many 
nations, and peoples, and tongues, and kings, p. 225. 



CHAPTER XL 

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : and it was 
said to me : Arise and measure the temple of God, and the 
altar, and them that adore therein, p. 253. 

2. But the court, which is without the temple, cast out, and 
measure it not : because it is given unto the Gentiles, and the 
holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months : 
p. 254. 

3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall 
prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sack- 
cloth, p. 216. 

4. These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks 
that stand before the Lord of the earth, p. 216. 

5. And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come out of 
their mouths, and shall devour their enemies. And if any 
man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain. ^.216. 

6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the 
days of their prophecy : and they have power over waters to 
turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues 
as often as they will. p. 216. 

7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the 
beast, that ascendeth, out of the abyss, shall make war against 
them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. p. 274. 

8. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city 
which is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where their 
Lord also was crucified, p. 274. 

9. And they of the tribes, and peoples, and tongues, and 
nations, shall see their bodies for three days and a half: and 
they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres, p. 274. 






THE APOCALYPSE. 377 

10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over 
them, and make merry : and shall send gifts one to another, 
because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon 
the earth, p. 274. 

11. And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from 
God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and 
great fear fell upon them that saw them. p. 275. 

12. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to 
them : Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a 
cloud ; and their enemies saw them. p. 275. 

13. And at that hour there was made a great earthquake, 
and the tenth part of the city fell ; and there were slain in 
the earthquake names of men seven thousand : and the rest 
were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 
p. 275. 

14. The second wo is past: and behold the third wo will 
come quickly, p. 278. 

15. And the seventh angel sounded the trumpet : and there 
were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of this 
world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall 
reign for ever and ever. Amen. p. 311. 

16. And the four and twenty ancients, who sit on their 
seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces and adored God. 
p. 311. 

17. Saying : We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, 
who art, and who wast, and who art to come : because thou hast 
taken to thee thy great power, and thou hast reigned. ^.311. 

18. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, 
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that 
thou shouldst render reward to thy servants the prophets and 
the saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great, and 
shouldst destroy them who have corrupted the earth, p. 311. 

19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and 
the ark of his testament was seen in his temple, and there 
were lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake, and great 
hail. jp. 311. 



CHAPTER XII. 

And a great sign appeared in heaven : a woman clothed 
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head 
a crown of twelve stars : p. 59. 
32* 



378 THE APOCALYPSE. 

2. And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and 
was in pain to be delivered, p. 59. 

3. And there was seen another sign in heaven, and behold 
a great red dragon having seven heads, and ten horns : and 
on his heads seven diadems : p. 59. 

4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 
and cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood before the 
woman who was ready to be delivered ; that, when she should 
be delivered, he might devour her son. p. 59. 

5. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all 
nations with an iron-rod : and her son was taken up to God, 
and to his throne, p. 60. 

6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had 
a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a 
thousand two hundred and sixty days. p. 61. 

7. And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his 
angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his 
angels: p. 62. 

8. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found 
any more in heaven, p. 62. 

9. And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 
who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole 
world : and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were 
thrown down with him. p. 62. 

10. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now is 
come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, 
and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our 
brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day 
and night, p. 63. 

11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, 
and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their 
lives unto death, p. 63. 

12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell 
therein. Wo to the earth, and to the sea, because the devil is 
come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he 
hath but a short time. p. 63. 

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the 
earth, he persecuted the woman, who brought forth the man- 
child : p. 64. i 

14. And there were given to the woman two wings of a 
great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place, 
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, 
from the face of the serpent, p. 64. 

15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, 



THE APOCALYPSE. 379 

water as it were a river ; that he might cause her to be car- 
ried away by the river, p. 64. 

16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened 
her mouth, and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast 
out of his mouth, p. 65. 

17. And the dragon was angry against the woman: and 
went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the 
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus 
Christ, p. 66. 

18. And he stood upon the sand of the sea. p. 68. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems, and 
upon his heads names of blasphemy, p. 232. 

2. And the beast which I saw was like to a leopard, and 
his feet w T ere as the feet of a bear, and his mouth, as the mouth 
of a lion. And the dragon gave him his own strength and 
great power, p. 232. 

3. And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to death : 
p. 233, and his death's wound was healed. And all the earth 
was in admiration after the beast, p. 236. 

4. And they adored the dragon, which gave power to the 
beast ; and they adored the beast, saying : Who is like to the 
beast? And who shall be able to fight with him? p. 237. 

5. And there was given to him a mouth speaking great 
things, and blasphemies : and power was given him to do 
two and forty months, p. 244. 

6. And he opened his mouth unto blasphemies against God, 
to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell 
in heaven, p. 244. 

7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, 
and to overcome them. And pow r er was given him over every 
tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation, p. 246. 

8. And all that dwell upon the earth adored him, whose 
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, which 
was slain from the beginning of the world, p. 246. 

9. If any man have an ear let him hear. p. 251. 

10. He that shall lead into captivity, shall go into captivity: 
he that shall kill by the sword, must be killed by the sword. 
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints, p. 251. 



380 THE APOCALYPSE. 

11. And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, 
and he had two horns, like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 
p. 246. 

12. And he executed all the power of the former beast in 
his sight : and he caused the earth, and them that dwell there- 
in, to adore the first beast whose wound to death was healed. 
p. 247. 

13. And he did great signs, so that he made also fire to 
come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men. 
p. 247. 

14. And he seduced them that dwell on the earth, for the 
signs, which were given to him to do in the sight of the beast, 
saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make 
the image of the beast which had the wound by the sword, 
and lived, p. 248. 

15. And it was given him to give life to the image of the 
beast, and that the image of the beast should speak: and 
should cause, that whosoever will not adore the image of the 
beast, should be slain, p. 248. 

16. And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and 
poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their right 
hand, or on their foreheads, p. 248. 

17. And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath 
the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his 
name. p. 249. 

18. Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him 
count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man : 
and the number of him is six hundred sixty-six. p. 249. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

And I beheld, and lo a Lamb stood upon Mount Sion, and 
with him a hundred forty-four thousand having his name, and 
the name of his Father, written on their foreheads, p. 256. 

2. And I heard a voice from heaven as the noise of many 
waters, and as the voice of great thunder: and the voice, which 
I heard, was as the voice of harpers harping on their harps, 
p. 256. 

3. And they sung a3 it were a new canticle, before the 
throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients ; 
and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty- 
four thousand, who were purchased from the earth, p. 256. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 381 

4. These are they who were not defiled with women : For 
they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he 
goeth. These were purchased from among men, the first 
fruits to God and to the Lamb : p. 257. 

5. And in their mouth there was found no lie : For they 
are without spot before the throne of God. p. 258. 

6. And I saw another angel flying through the midst of 
heaven, having the eternal gospel, to preach unto them that 
sit upon the earth, and over every nation, and tribe, and 
tongue, and people, p. 241. 

7. Saying with a loud voice : Fear the Lord, and give him 
honour, because the hour of his judgment is come : and adore 
ye him, that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains 
of waters, p. 242. 

8. And another angel followed, saying : That great Baby- 
lon is fallen, is fallen : which made all nations to drink of the 
wine of the wrath of her fornication, p. 292. 

9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud 
voice: If any man shall adore the beast and his image, 
and receive his character in his forehead, or in his hand; 
p. 296. 

10. He also shall drink of trie wine of the wrath of God, 
which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath, and 
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the sight of the 
holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb. p. 296. 

11. And the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for 
ever and ever : neither have they rest day nor night, who 
have adored the beast, and his image, and whosoever receiveth 
the character of his name. p. 296. 

12. Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the com- 
mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, p. 297. 

1 3. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me : Write, 
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth 
now, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labours : 
for their works follow them. p. 307. 

14. And I saw: and behold a white cloud: and upon the 
cloud one sitting like to the Son of man, having on his head 
a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle, p. 321. 

15. And another angel came out from the temple, crying 
with a loud voice to him that sat upon the cloud : Thrust in 
thy sickle and reap, because the hour is come to reap, for the 
harvest of the earth is ripe. p. 321. 

16. And he that sat on the cloud, thrust his sickle into the 
earth, and the earth was reaped, p, 321. 



382 THE APOCALYPSE. 

17. Ana another angel came out of the temple which is in 
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle, p. 321. 

18. And another angel came out from the altar, who had 
power over fire : and he cried with a loud voice to him that 
had the sharp sickle, saying: Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and 
gather the clusters of the vineyard of the earth ; because the 
grapes thereof are ripe. p. 321. 

19. And the angel thrust in his sharp sickle into the earth, 
and gathered the vineyard of the earth, and cast it into the 
great press of the wrath of God. p. 321. 

20. And the press was trodden without the city, and blood 
came out of the press, up to the horses' bridles, for a thousand 
and six hundred furlongs, p. 321. 



CHAPTER XV. 

And I saw another sign in heaven great and wonderful : 
seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is 
filled up the wrath of God. p. 45. 

2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, 
and them that had overcome the beast and his image and the 
number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the 
harps of God : p. 45. 

3. And singing the canticle of Moses the servant of God, 
and the canticle of the Lamb, saying: Great and wonderful 
are thy works, O Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy 
ways, O King of ages. p. 45. 

4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and magnify thy name ? 
For thou only art holy ! for all nations shall come, and adore 
in thy sight, because thy judgments are manifest, p. 46. 

5. And after these things I looked, and behold the temple 
of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened, p. 47. 

6. And the seven angels came out of the temple having the 
seven plagues, clothed with clean and white linen, and girt 
about the breasts with golden girdles, p. 47. 

7. And one of the four living creatures, gave to the seven 
angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God who liveth 
for ever and ever. p. 48. 

8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the majesty 
of God, and from his power : and no man was able to enter 
into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were 
fulfilled, p. 48. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 383 



CHAPTER XVI. 

And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the 
seven angels : Go, and pour out the seven vials of the wrath 
of God upon the earth, p. 49. 

2. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the 
earth, and there fell a sore and grievous wound upon men, 
who had the character of the beast; and upon them that 
adored the image thereof, p. 49. 

3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, 
and there came blood as it were of a dead man ; and every 
living soul died in the sea. p. 74. 

4. And the third poured out his vial upon the rivers and 
fountains of waters ; and there was made blood, p. 88. 

5. And I heard the angel of the waters, saying: Thou art 
just, O Lord, who art, and who wast, the holy one, because 
thou hast judged these things : p. 88. 

6. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and 
thou hast given them blood to drink > for they are worthy ; 
p. 88. 

7. And I heard another, from the altar, saying: Yea, O 
Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judgments, p. 88. 

8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, 
and it was given unto him to afflict men with heat and fire . 
p. 132. 

9. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blas- 
phemed the name of God who hath power over these plagues, 
neither did they penance to give him glory, p. 1 32. 

10. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat 
of the beast ; and his kingdom became dark, and they gnaw- 
ed their tongues from pain; p. 183. 

11. And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of 
their pains, and wounds, and did not penance for their works. 
p. 184. 

12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon that great 
river Euphrates ; and dried up the water thereof, that a way 
might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun. 
p. 227. 

13. And I saw from the mouth of the dragon, and from the 
mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, 
three unclean spirits like frogs, p. 273. 

14. For they are the spirits of devils working signs, and 



384 THE APOCALYPSE. 

they go forth unto the kings of the whole earth to gather them 
to battle against the great day of the Almighty God. £.273, 

15. Behold, I come as a thief; Blessed is he that watcheth, 
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see 
his shame, p. 308. 

16. And he shall gather them together unto a place which 
in Hebrew is called Armagedon. p. 281. . 

17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial upon the air, 
and there came a great voice out of the temple from the throne, 
saying: It is done. 2?. 313. # 

18. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, 
and there was a great earthquake, such a one as never had 
been seen since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, 
so great, p. did. 

19 And the great city was divided into three parts ; and 
the cities of the Gentiles fell. And great Babylon came in 
remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine of 
the indignation of his wrath, p. 314. 

20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were 
not found. £>. 314. . .'*; . ' 

21 And great hail like a talent came down from heaven 
upon men: and man blasphemed God for the plague of the 
hail; because it was exceeding great, p. 314. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

And there came one of the seven angels, who had the se- 
ven vials, and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will show 
thee the condemnation of the great harlot, who sitteth upon 
many waters, p. 98. 

2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed for- 
nication: and they who inhabit the earth have been made 
drunk with the wine of her whoredom, p. 98. 

3 And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And 1 
saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of 
names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

T ' 4 And the woman was clothed round about with purple 
and scarlet, and gilt with gold and precious stones and pearls 
having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination and 
filthiness of her fornication, p. 99. ' % 

5, And on her forehead a name was written: a Mystery; 



THE APOCALYPSE. %85 

Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the 
abominations of the earth, p. 99. 

6. And I saw a woman drunk with the blood of the saints, 
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I wondered 
when I had seen her, with great admiration, p. 99, 

7. And the angel said to me : Why dost thou wonder ? I 
will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast 
which carried her, which had the seven heads and ten horns. 
p. 99. 

8. The beast, which thou sawest, was and is not, and shall 
come up out of the bottomless pit, and go into destruction ; 
and the inhabitants on the earth, whose names are not written 
in the book of life from the foundation of the world, shall 
wonder, seeing the beast that was and is not. p. 103. 

9. And here is the understanding, that hath wisdom. The 
seven heads, are seven mountains, upon which the woman sit- 
teth, and they are seven kings, p. 103. 

10. Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: 
and when he is come, he must remain a short time. p. 103. 

1 1. And the beast which was, and is not ; the same also is 
the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction, p. 
104. 

12. And the ten horns, which thou sawest, are ten kings, 
who have not yet received kingdom, but shall receive power 
as kings one hour after the beast, p. 105. 

13. These have one design ; and their strength and power 
they shall deliver to the beast, p. 105. 

1 4. These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall 
overcome them, because he is Lord of lords, and King of 
kings, and they that are with him are called, and elect, and 
faithful, p. 105. 

15. And he said to me; The waters, which thou sawest, 
where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and nations, and tongues. 
p. 100. 

16. And the ten horns, which thou sawest on the beast; 
these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and 
naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire. 
p. 106. 

17. For God hath given into their hearts, to do that which 
pleaseth him ; that they give their kingdom to the beast till 
the words of God be fulfilled, p. 107. 

18. And the woman which thou sawest, is the great city, 
which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth, p. 99. 

33 



386 THE APOCALYPSE. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

And after these things I saw another angel come down 
from heaven, having great power ; and the earth was enlight- 
ened with his glory, p. 108. 

2. And he cried out with a strong voice, saying : Babylon 
the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of 
devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of 
every unclean and hateful bird: p. 108. 

3. Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath 
of her fornication ; and the kings of the earth have committed 
fornication with her ; and the merchants of the earth have 
been made rich by the power of her delicacies, p. 109. 

4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go 
out from her, my people : that you be not partakers of her 
sins, and that you receive not of her plagues, p. 110. 

5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord 
hath remembered her iniquities, p. 110. 

6. Render to her as she hath also rendered to you ; and 
double unto her double according to her works; in the cup, 
wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her. p. 110. 

7. As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in deli- 
cacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her; p. 110, 
because she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, 
and sorrow I shall not see. p. 111. 

8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and 
mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with fire ; be- 
cause God is strong who shall judge her. p. 111. 

9. And the kings of the earth, who have committed forni- 
cation, and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep, and be- 
wail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of 
her burning, p. 111. 

10. Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: 
Alas ! alas ! that great city Babylon, that mighty city: for in 
one hour is thy judgment come. p. 112. 

1 1. And the merchants of the earth shall weep, and mourn 
over her ; for no man shall buy their merchandise any more : 
p. 112. 

12. Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones; 
and of pearls and fine linen and purple, and silk, and scarlet, 
and all thyine-wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and 
all manner of vessels of precious stones, and of brass, and of 
iron, and of marble, p. 112. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 387 

13. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and frank- 
incense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and 
beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and 
souls of men. p. 112. 

14. And the fruits of the desire of thy soul are departed 
from thee, and all fat and goodly things, are perished from 
thee, and they shall find them no more at all. p. 1 12. 

15. The merchants of these things, who were made rich, 
shall stand afar off from her for fear of her torments, weep- 
ing and mourning, p. 1 12. 

16. And saying; Alas! alas! that great city, which was 
clothed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and was gilt 
with gold and precious stones and pearls; p. 112. 

17. For in one hour are so great riches come to nought; 
p. 112, and every ship-master, and all that sail into the lake, 
and mariners, and as many as work in the sea, stood afar off 
p. 113. 

18. And cried, seeing the place of her burning, saying ; 
What city is like to this great city? p. 113. 

19. And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weep- 
ing and mourning, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein 
all were made rich, that had ships at sea, by reason of her 
prices; for in one hour she is made desolate, p. 113. 

20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles 
and prophets : for God hath judged your judgment on her. 
^.113. '• 

21. And a mighty angel took up a stone as it were a great 
millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, With such violence 
as this shall Babylon, that great city, be thrown down, and 
shall be found no more at all. p. 293. 

22. And the voice of harpers, and of musicians, and of 
them that play on the pipe and the trumpet, shall no more be 
found in thee; and no craftsman of any art whatsoever shall 
be found any more at all in thee ; and the sound of the mill 
shall be heard no more at all in thee; p. 293. 

23. And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all 
in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall 
be heard no more at all in thee ; for thy merchants were the 
great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by 
thy enchantments, p. 293. 

24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of 
saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth, p. 294. 



388 THE APOCALYPSE, 



CHAPTER XIX 

After these things I heard as it were the voice of much 
people in heaven, saying, Alleluia. Salvation and glory and 
power is to our God: p. 114. 

2. For true and just are his judgments, who hath judged 
the great harlot, which corrupteth the earth with her fornica- 
tion, and hath revenged the blood of his servants, at her hands. 
p. 114. 

3. And again they said ; Alleluia. And her smoke ascend- 
eth for ever and ever. p. 114. 

4. And the four and twenty ancients, and the four living 
creatures, fell down and adored God that sitteth upon the 
throne, saying, Amen. Alleluia, p. 114. 

5. And a voice came out from the throne, saying; Give 

{>raise to our God, all ye his servants j and you that fear him, 
ittle and great, p. 114. 

6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, 
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great 
thunders, saying, Alleluia : for the Lord our God the Almighty 
hath reigned, p. 294. 

7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him ; for 
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath prepared 
herself, p. 323. 

8. And it is granted to her that she should clothe herself 
with fine linen glittering and white. For the fine linen are 
the justifications of saints, p. 323. 

9. And he said to me ; Write, Blessed are they that are 
called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith to 
me ; These words of God are true. p. 324. 

10. And I fell down before his feet, to adore him. And he 
saith to me; See thou do it not; I am thy fellow-servant, and 
of thy brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Adore God. 
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, p. 324. 

11. And I saw heaven opened, and beheld a white horse; 
and he that sat upon him, was called faithful and true, and 
with justice doth he judge and fight, p. 284. 

12. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head 
were many diadems, and he had a name written, which no 
man knoweth but himself, p. 284. 

13. And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with 
blood; and his name is called, The word of God. p. 284. 






THE APOCALYPSE. 389 

14. And the armies that are in heaven followed him on 
white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean, p. 285. 

15. And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged 
sword ; that with it he may strike the nations. And he shall 
rule them with a rod of iron ; and he treadeth the wine-press 
of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty, p. 285. 

16. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh written, 
King of kings and Lord of lords, p. 285. 

17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried 
with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that did fly through 
the midst of heaven ; Come, gather yourselves together to the 
great supper of God. p. 285. 

18. That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
tribunes, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, 
and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all freemen and 
bondmen, and of little and of great, p. 286. 

19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and 
their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat 
upon the horse, and with his army. p. 286. 

20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false pro- 
phet, who wrought signs before him, wherewith he seduced 
them who received the character of the beast, and who adored 
his image. These two were cast alive into the pool of fire 
burning with brimstone, p. 286. 

21. And the rest were slain by the sword of him that sitteth 
upon the horse, which proceedeth out of his mouth : and all 
the birds were filled with their flesh, p. 287. 



CHAPTER XX. 

And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having 
the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, 
p. 68. 

2. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is 
the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, p. 68. 

3. And he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him 
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should no more seduce 
the nations, till the thousand years be finished. And after that 
he must be loosed a little time. p. 68. 

4. And I saw seats ; and they sat upon them, and judgment 
was given unto them, and the souls of them that were beheaded 
for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who 

33* 



390 THE APOCALYPSE. 

had not adored the beast nor his image, nor received his cha* 
racter on their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years, p. 69. 

5. And the rest of the dead lived not, till the thousand years 
were finished. This is the first resurrection, p. 69. 

6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resur- 
rection. In these the second death hath no power : but they 
shall be priests of God and of Christ j and shall reign with 
hirn a thousand years, p. 70. 

7. And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan 
shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth and se- 
duce the nations, which are over the four quarters of the earth, 
p. 229, Gog T and Magog, and shall gather them together to 
battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. p. 299. 

8. And they came upon the breadth of the earth, and en- 
compassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. p. 300. 

9. And there came down fire from God out of heaven, and 
devoured them, p. 302, and the devil, who seduced, was e&st 
into the pool of fire and brimstone, p. 305. 

10. Where both the beast and the false prophet shall be 
tormented day and night for ever and ever. p. 305. 

11. And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting upon 
it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there 
was no place found for them. p. 317. 

12. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the 
presence of the throne, and the books were opened : and an- 
other book was opened, which is the book of life; and the 
dead were judged by those things which were written in the 
books, according to their works, p. 317. 

* 13. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and 
death and hell gave up their dead that were in them ; and 
they were judged every one according to their works, p. 318. 

14. And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This 
is the second death, p. 320. 

15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of 
life, was cast into the pool of fire. p. 321. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first 
heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no 
more. p. 325. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 301 

2. And I John saw the holy city the new Jerusalem coming 
down out of heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned 
for her husband, p. 327. 

3. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying, Be- 
hold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with 
them. And they shall be his people ; and God himself w r ith 
them shall be their God. p. 327. 

4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and 
death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sor- 
row shall be any more, for the former things are passed away. 
p. 327. 

5. And he that sat on the throne, said : Behold, I make all 
things new. p. 328. And he said to me: Write, for these 
words are most faithful and true. p. 329. 

6. And he said to me: It is done. I am Alpha and Ome- 
ga ; the beginning and the end. To him that thirsteth I will 
give of the fountain of the water of life, freely, p. 329. 

7. He that shall overcome, shall possess these things, and 
I will be his God, and he shall be my son. p. 329. 

8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and 
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, 
and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burn- 
ing with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, p. 
329. 

9. And there came one of the seven angels, who had the 
vials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me, say- 
ing : Come, and I will show thee the bride, the wife of the 
Lamb. p. 330. 

10. And he took me up in spirit to a great and high moun- 
tain : and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming 
down out of heaven from God. p. 330. 

11. Having the glory of God ; and the light thereof was 
like to a precious stone, as to the jasper stone, even as crys- 
tal, p. 330. 

12. And it had a w r all great and high, having twelve gates, 
and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, 
which are names of the twelve tribes of the children of Is- 
rael, p. 330. 

13. On the east, three gates ; and on the north, three gates ; 
and on the south, three gates ; and on the west, three gates. 
p. 331. 

14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and 
in them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 
p. 331. 



392 



THE APOCALYPSE. 



15. And he that spake with me, had a measure of a reed, 
of gold, to measure the city and the gates thereof, and the 
wall. p. 331. 

16. And the city lieth in a four square, and the length 
thereof is as great as the breadth : and he measured the city 
with a golden reed for the twelve thousand furlongs ; and the 
length, and the height, and the breadth thereof are equal. 
p. 331. 

17. And he measured the wall thereof a hundred forty-four 
cubits, the measure of a man which is of an angel, p. 331. 

18. And the building of the wall thereof was of jasper- 
stone ; but the city itself pure gold, like to clear glass, p. 
332. 

19. And the foundations of the wall of the city, were 
adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foun- 
dation was jasper ; the second, sapphire ; the third, a chalce- 
dony ; the fourth, an emerald, p. 332. 

20. The fifth, sardonix ; the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, 
chrysolite ; the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, 
a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an 
amethyst, p. 332. 

2 1 . And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one to each ; 
and every several gate was of one several pearl. And the 
street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 
p. 332. 

22. And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God 
Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb. p. 332. 

23. And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, 
to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened it, and 
the Lamb is the lamp thereof, p. 332. 

24. And the nations shall walk in the light of it ; and the 
kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it. 
p. 333. 

25. And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day; for 
there shall be no night there, p. 333. 

26. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the na- 
tions into it. p. 333. 

27. There shall not enter into it any thing defileo, or that 
worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are writ- 
ten in the book of life of the Lamb. p. 333. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 393 



CHAPTER XXII. 

And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, 
proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. p. 334. 

2. In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of 
the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding 
its fruits every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the 
healing of the nations, p. 334. 

3. And there shall be no curse any more; but the throne 
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall 
serve him. p. 334. 

4. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be on 
their foreheads, p. 334. 

5. And night shall be no more : and they shall not need the 
light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord 
God shall enlighten them, and they shall reign for ever and 
ever. p. 335. 

6. And he said to me : These words are most faithful and 
true. And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets, sent 
his angel to show his servants the things which must be done 
shortly, p. 335. 

7. And behold I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth 
the words of the prophecy of this book. p. 336. 

8. And I John, who have heard, and seen these things. 
And after I had heard and seen, I fell down to adore before 
the feet of the angel, who showed me these things, p. 336. 

9. And he said to me, See thou do it not: for I am thy 
fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them 
that keep the words of the prophecy of this book : Adore God. 
p. 336. 

1 0. And he saith to me : Seal not the words of the prophecy 
of this book : for the time is at hand. p. 337. 

11. He that hurteth, let him hurt still ; and he that is filthy, 
let him be filthy still ; and he that is just, let him be justified 
still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still, p. 337. 

12. Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, 
to render to every man according to his works, p. 337. 

13. I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the be- 
ginning and the end. p. 337. 

14. Blessed are they, that wash their robes in the blood of 
the Lamb : that they might have a right to the tree of life, 
and may enter in by the gates into the city. p. 337. 



394 



THE APOCALYPSE. 



15. Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and unchaste, and 
murderers, and servers of idols, and every one that loveth and 
maketh a lie. p. 338. 

1 6. I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things 
in the churches. I am the root and stock of David, the bright 
and morning star. p. 338. 

17. And the spirit and the bride say ; Come. And he that 
heareth, let him say, Come. And he that thirsteth, let him 
come; and he that will, let him take the water of life freely. 
p. 338. 

18. For I testify to every one that heareth the words of the 
prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things 
God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book. 
339. 

19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the 
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of 
the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from these things 
that are written in this book. p. 339. 

20. He that giveth testimony of these things saith ; Surely, 
I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, p. 339. 

21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, 
Amen, p, 361. 



THE END. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

The Editor to the Public 3 

The Introduction 7 

Chap. I. — Explication of the first chapter of the Apocalypse 15 

Chap II.— The History of the first Age of the Christian Church 23 

Prelude to the opening of the seven Seals 23 

The opening of the first Seal 31 

Prelude to the sounding of the seven Trumpets 34 

The sounding of the first Trumpet 3G 

Prelude to the pouring out of the seven Vials of the Wrath of 

God 45 

The pouring out of the first Vial 49 

Chap. III. — A further Account of the first Age of the Christian 

Church 58 

Chap. IV. — The History of the second Age of the Christian 

Church 72 

The opening of the second Seal , 72 

The sounding fo the second Trumpet * . . . . 74 

The pouring out of the second Vial 74 

The Explication of the second Seal, second Trumpet, and se- 
cond Vial, illustrated by history 75 

Chap. V.— The History of the third Age of the Christian Church 85 

The opening of the third Seal 85 

The sounding of the third Trumpet 86 

The pouring out of the third Vial 88 

The Explication of the third Seal, third Trumpet, and the third 

Vial, illustrated by history 89 

Chap. VI. — A further Account of the third Age of the Christian 

Church 98 

Chap. VII. — The History of the fourth Age of the Christian 

Church 116 

The opening of the fourth Seal 116 

The Explication of the fourth Seal illustrated by history 118 

The sounding of the fourth Trumpet 125 

The Explication of the fourth Trumpet illustrated by history 126 
The pouring out of the fourth Vial 132 



396 CONTENTS. 

Page 

Chap. VIII.— The History of the fifth Age of the Christian 

Church 135 

The opening of the fifth Seal 135 

The sounding of the fifth Trumpet 141 

Chap. IX. — Continuation of the History of the fifth Age of the 

Christian Church 172 

The pouring out of the fifth Vial 183 

Chap. X.— The History of the sixth Age of the Christian Church 186 

The opening of the sixth Seal 187 

Narrative preparatory to the prophecy of the sixth Trumpet. . 194 

The sounding of the sixth Trumpet 226 

The pouring out of the sixth Vial 22' 

Chap. XL — Continuation of the History of the sixth Age of the 

Christian Church 253 

Chap. XII. — Continuation of the History of the sixth Age of the 

Christian Church 291 

Chap. XIII. — The History of the seventh Age of the Christian 

Church 311 

The opening of the seventh Seal 311 

The sounding of the seventh Trumpet 311 

The pouring out of the seventh Vial 313 

Chap. XIV. — Conclusion of the Apocalypse 336 

Chap. XV. — Reflections on the seven Ages of the Christian 

Church 340 

The text of the Apocalypse 362 



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